Some generous donations will mean the Walter Taylor Shield will not only go ahead, but be played on turf.
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Due to the ongoing drought conditions and subsequent water shortages, Armidale's annual under-15s carnival was initially set to be played on synthetic pitches but thanks to a couple of donations of water they have been able to get the turf wickets up at TAS and the Sportsground.
"TAS got water donated by Lane Cove Council," Armidale District Cricket Association's junior convenor Dave Schmude said
"And we managed to get some water donated to get the Sportsground up and running."
The two-and-a-half inches that fell on Christmas Eve has also helped, he said.
Schmude praised the hard work of everyone involved to get the pitches up and everything ready for the carnival.
"It's been an amazing effort," he said, noting that people worked through the Christmas period.
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The availability of the Sportsground also means they will be able to play a couple of Twenty20 games under lights.
Beginning on Thursday, seven teams will contest the carnival, with Armidale joined by Brisbane Bears, West Pennant Hills/Cherrybook, Northern Rivers, Ballina, Hunter Valley and Tamworth.
The home side will feature five of the side that finished third last year with captain James Phelps, brother Jono, Ben Heagney, Mitch Duddy and Brock Parsons backing up again, along with coach Mitch Woods.
"I think they might be quite strong," Woods said.
"Hopefully we'll perform alright."
He said the carnival will be a good learning experience for them, particularly the younger players that haven't played a lot of carnival cricket before. It is very different to regular school or club, and even rep, cricket.
It presents some unique challenges, and Woods spoke about them having to be prepared to get a bit fatigued.
One area he is hoping they will improve on from last year is their running between the wickets, specifically not ball watching.
"Last year it seemed to be running between the wickets where they fell down," he said.
"Hopefully they're not going to leave 70 runs out there."
Play begins at 9.30am on Thursday morning.
The home side won't be in action until the afternoon with their first game a Twenty20 against Ballina.
FIRST DAY DRAW:
9.30am: Tamworth v Brisbane Beats (Sportsground), WPHCC v Northern Rivers (TAS Backfield), Ballina v Hunter Valley (TAS Wakefield). Armidale - bye
1.30pm: Ballina v Armidale (TAS Wakefield). Hunter Valley - bye
