The first Maitland Twenty20 carnival starts on Sunday with 12 teams contesting 18 matches across six venues.

It will be the first time the popular shortened form of the game has been played in the top grades and Western Suburbs skipper Tom Irwin said his squad were excited about the prospect of taking part.

“The boys can’t wait,” Irwin said.

“The whole club is looking forward to it actually and everyone is talking about it.”

The Plovers will be among the favourites to take out the title with hard hitters like Michael Rees, who leads the district batting aggregate, and reigning Maitland first grade player of the year Andrew Trappel in their line up.

All-rounders Luke Merchant and Tom Rumbel will also be in the mix alongside returning players including Mitchell Smith, Matthew Nielsen, Adam Murray and Callen Edwards.

Irwin said he would carry a squad of 17 players to rotate through their three round matches at Robins Oval. 

“We have a good mix of blokes,” Irwin said.

“It’s something that appeals to a lot of different skill sets and it’s not just first graders, we have a few blokes coming back and a few lower graders in there as well.”

The 12 teams, seven first grade and five one-day, have been split across three pools of four.

Wests have been grouped with Northern Suburbs, Tenambit Morpeth and Raworth with matches to be played at Robins Oval and Lorn Park.

The remaining two pools will play at Raymond Terrace.

City United, Eastern Suburbs, Thornton Park and Dungog are split between Jack Collins and Bill Bobbins.

King Park 3 and 5 will host fixtures featuring Kurri Weston, Raymond Terrace, Port Stephens and Windsor Castle.

Winners from each pool will progress to semi-finals on March 8 alongside the highest ranked ­second-place getter based on net run rate.

The eventual champion will score $1000 and the runner-up $500. 

White balls and coloured clothing will be used with 12 players able to be named, including a non-batsman and non-bowler.

Sunday’s games are scheduled to start at 9am, noon and 3pm.

The Twenty20 carnival will not count toward the minor premiership.

Normal competition matches will be played on Saturday.

9am - Northern Suburbs v Tenambit Morpeth at Lorn Park; Western Suburbs v Raworth at Robins Oval

Noon - Raworth v Tenambit Morpeth at Lorn Park; Northern Suburbs v Western Suburbs at Robins Oval

3pm - Northern Suburbs v Raworth at Lorn Park; Tenambit Morpeth v Western Suburbs at Robins Oval

9am - City v Thornton at Jack Collins; Eastern Suburbs v Dungog at Bill Bobbins

Noon - City v Easts at Jack Collins; Thornton v Dungog at Bill Bobbins

3pm - City v Dungog at Jack Collins; Easts v Thornton at Bill Bobbins

9am - Kurri Weston v Raymond Terrace at King Park 5; Windsor Castle v Port Stephens at King Park 3

Noon - Raymond Terrace v Port Stephens at King Park 5; Kurri Weston v Windsor Castle at King Park 3

3pm - Kurri Weston v Port Stephens at King Park 5; Raymond Terrace v Windsor Castle at King Park 3