Fine weather in Christchurch yesterday and today has provided some breathing space for ground staff attempting to get grounds ready for the start of the ICC Under-19 World Cup on Saturday.

Marquees have been placed over both the wickets on the Bert Sutcliffe Oval and the No 3 ground at Lincoln University where pitches are being prepared for the early round games.

Weather concerns have also affected the grounds being used in Auckland and Dunedin for pool games.

Colin Maiden Park in Auckland and Carisbrook in Dunedin are the other venues being used for the tournament.

The weather is still unsettled over New Zealand and most forecasts are predicting more rain before the weekend.

If there is fine weather for a lengthy period of time, NZC High Performance Centre turf manager Karl Johnson said the grounds at Lincoln should be at their optimum for the all important Super Six stage of the tournament starting on Sunday, January 27.

What the recent sunshine has allowed ground staff at Lincoln to do is prepare one pitch under the marquee and one outside of it.

Under the marquee, Johnson has been rolling and using heaters to dry off the surface.

"No 3 ground is the wettest of the three but apart from that it has come up really well, especially considering it is only six months old," he said.

Johnson has been in touch with the groundsmen in the other centres and said they were all agreed that if they got good weather from now on it wouldn't take them long to get back into the swing of things.

"But another problem is that when you have had rain on 13 of the last 14 days with the covers on pitches you get a lot of disease among the grass. It is young grass and it becomes unhealthy and when you roll it, it can kill it," he said.

By comparison, the outfields were in outstanding shape.

"There has been a lot of moisture for the outfields and they are looking great," he said.

One of the problems usually associated with cricket grounds in Canterbury in January is drypatch and Argentine stem weevil but the rain has eliminated that concern.

Most encouraging for the teams taking part is Johnson's claim that all concerned with the ground were "still really positive."

Teams in Auckland and Christchurch did get practice matches today, while those in Dunedin will play tomorrow and Friday.

The Australian side will travel to Oamaru tomorrow, about 120km north of Dunedin and will play on an artificial pitch in Dunedin on Friday, while the West Indies will reverse the procedure. Kenya and Scotland did not want to play on artificial pitches and they will have a game in Oamaru on Friday as their only preparation for the tournament.

© CricInfo