Army physical training instructors at Colchester Garrison will today put the Essex County Cricket Club squad through its paces on a training day designed especially for the squad.

Head Coach, Former England and Essex Captain Graham Gooch said: "We obviously train continuously throughout the year and we need to make our activities as varied and interesting as possible. We wanted to do something different and exciting to stimulate the players. And they're really looking forward to spending the day with the Army.

"Sports and physical fitness play an important part in Army life and I wanted to see what we as professional sportsmen, can learn from them. The Army has put together a great programme, which gives us a taste of how they do things, but will also help the players in developing the particular skills unique to the cricket pitch."

The 18 squad members will take part in a typical Army physical training lesson, as well as a specially designed cricket-orientated team building session. They will also find out about how the Army helps soldiers who have injured themselves get back to full physical fitness.

The cricketers will also try their hand at the Army assault course, competing against soldiers from the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA).

Physical and adventurous training instructor Sergeant Major Martin Staines, who will be running the day, said:

"We hope that the County Cricket Squad enjoy the day. We've had fun putting the programme together and I'm sure the lads will relish the challenge of having professional athletes to race against. It should be competitive and we'll give it our best shot, as I'm sure the Essex County Cricket Squad will do too. It will be interesting to see what happens."

© Essex CCC