Fitness levels of Auckland's prospective State Aces this year will be put to the test over the weekend when the side takes part in Auckland's half marathon.

Auckland coach Tony Sail said a team of 18 will line up for the event which starts at 6.30am on the North Shore and crosses back over the Auckland Harbour Bridge to finish in Victoria Park.

Sail said the team had run the half marathon in a relay style two years ago.

"I set it up and let the players know so that when they were away in England they would at least come back in some sort of fit state.

"There's also a bit of motivation involved in running across the bridge for Aucklanders," he said.

Sail also believes that cricket, and many other sports, have shunned the aerobic base work in their training.

In his role as a coach at Mt Albert Grammar he has come into contact with its famous old boy, triple Olympic gold medallist Peter Snell, over the last year or so.

"I spent a lot of time with him at various forums and listened to what he was saying and it dawned on me that from my own experience I felt I was a better player when I had put in the miles," he said.

There had been some questioning of the idea by players who wondered if the only running they had to do was the 22 yards between the wickets, or in their bowling run-ups, why they should have to do endurance work?

"I tried to point out that the endurance base is part of it," he said.

Sail said Llorne Howell was looking fitter than for some year while Andre Adams had also come back from England looking sharper.

"We gave them a 12 week running programme to build up and we have monitored it.

"It won't be easy but the run on Sunday is the 5% at the end of it all.

"I'm sure in 10 or 12 weeks in the middle of the season the players will be feeling the benefit of it," he said.

Sail said that Snell had told him that while the actual science of why Arthur Lydiard's work on stamina-based build-up had worked was not known at the time, the years of study he had put in subsequently had proven that speed can be improved by endurance work.

Sail said he was quite excited about the work that had been put in and believed it represented a breakthrough in the players' thinking.

"They all don't want to make fools of themselves, and it will be a good team-building exercise," he said.

It will be one factor in what is intended to be a tough week for the Auckland side.

The players will have club cricket on Saturday, the half-marathon on Sunday and then on Monday they travel to Christchurch for a week at the High Performance Centre at Lincoln University and games against the New Zealand Academy.

A squad of 12 players has been named for the Lincoln visit which will be the first occasion Brooke Walker has led the side since being given the captaincy.

A new cap in the side is Waitakere Cricket Club player is Steve Pearson, 23, who will keep wickets during the week.

"The matches against the New Zealand Academy team are an important part of our development for the State Series in 2001/02. The trip is also a valuable opportunity to put in place plans and protocols for the players for the new season", Sail said.

Richard Morgan wasn't considered due to work commitments while Aucklanders playing for the Academy will be Nick Horsley, Reece Young and Sam Whiteman.

The Auckland side is: Brooke Walker, Andre Adams, Aaron Barnes, Tama Canning, Chris Drum, Mark Haslam, Matthew Horne, Llorne Howell, Tim McIntosh, Kyle Mills, Steve Pearson, Richard Pudney.

© CricInfo