Expect a better performance from the State Auckland Aces in the new cricket season.

So often Auckland has under-achieved, but the signs are that a much stronger team is emerging.

While its eventual strength may be determined by the contribution the side makes to the CLEAR Black Caps during the summer, it has the potential to make a difference this year.

Coach Tony Sail has been delighted with the way players in his squad fronted up to the plan to build the aerobic base of players by entering them, en masse, in the Auckland City half-marathon two weekends ago.

Running the event on the weekend before the side had a busy programme at the High Performance Centre at Lincoln University had suited his plans.

"I wanted to put them in a position where they were playing outside their comfort zone.

"After that they will have a nice rest before we play our pre-season game with Wellington," he said.

The side had a comfortable 10-wicket win over the New Zealand Academy side in their three-day game but lost in the one-day match.

"We wanted to see who could rise to the challenge and we found out quite a lot about the players, and they found out a bit about themselves," he said.

Competing in the half-marathon had been quite a humbling experience as the cricketers, running as reasonably high-profile sportsmen, found themselves running alongside little old ladies and older men and other runners just out for the fun of it, he said.

The players had then gone to Lincoln quite sore with some muscle injuries but nothing that was unfixable. The whole exercise had been useful also for the side getting used to new captain Brooke Walker, a feature compounded by staying at the HPC and not booking into a hotel for the duration.

"I'm very happy with what we've got in the side and if everyone can add 10% to their performance we will be well off.

"What has been missing in the 10% we need has been the mental toughness," Sail said.

"Emotional intelligence," was another way of putting it, he said and it was something that had been taken for granted before.

Auckland had been guilty of under-achieving in the past, the most notable recent example being in the season before last when the side reached each of the three competition finals without taking away the prizes.

The players themselves were sick of the lack of reward for their efforts.

"There will be competition for places," he said.

The side had been bolstered by the return of Mark Richardson and Matt Horne from Otago. The two had not been enticed back to Auckland.

"You don't have to recruit senior players, they are looking at what is best for their career," he said.

Sail said the bowling strength of the side was looking especially good with Chris Drum and Kyle Mills, and Andre Adams showing how quickly he could bowl during the Academy game. Add to them Richard Morgan and Tama Canning and with spinners like Walker and Mark Haslam Auckland should be able to get into a position to constantly attack.

Getting runs would be central to that hope. A lot of work had been done with the top five over the winter, especially on their game plans to different bowlers.

"They've looked at their weaknesses and worked on them," he said.

The main concern before the first State Championship game against Central Districts, starting in Auckland on November 26, is having his players get the chance to play on grass. The time at Lincoln allowed that but with another weekend of play lost at the weekend, there was more play lost.

© CricInfo