At a very wet County Ground this morning the Somerset players reported back for pre-season training ahead of the start of the 2002 season next month.

Before the start of the day Coach Kevin Shine told me: "All the players are in very good shape, and will be spending the day undergoing very specific fitness tests that have been set by Darren Veness and Andy Hurry. By the time that they go home this evening they will all be pretty tired!"

The first week back in training for the players will be divided between spending time at the County Ground, using the extensive facilities at Millfield School at Street, as well as an excursion to another venue for a team-building exercise and some more strenuous physical exercises.

I asked the Somerset Coach how he was feeling about things at this stage of the season. "It's brilliant and everything is going really well. We've moved things on again which is what we needed to do, and everybody is feeling very confident and positive.

"We have got quite a long pre-season this year, and we are using some different activities. It's all a bit of a balancing act to keep the players sharp and challenged all the time."

Before rushing off to meet with the players in the dressing room he concluded: "By the time April 24th comes along we want them to be really geared up, hungry and fresh and totally prepared for the first match of the season."

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