The Somerset squad spent a hard day at the Royal Marine Commando Training Centre at Lympstone, near Exeter today.

What they experienced during their time at the Commando Training Centre will no doubt remain in their memories for many years to come, and in a large number of cases the activities will have pushed them to the limit of their physical endurance.

On arrival at the camp the players swapped their tracksuits and trainers for combat suits and regulation issue military boots, before going for a briefing where they were told that the day would centre around a series of team building activities.

As soon as they made their way out towards the assault course it became clear that they were most certainly in for a gruelling day.

The squad of 18, which included Darren Veness, Head of Injury Prevention, Club Physio Ross Dewar and Fitness Instructor Andy Hurry were divided into three teams and undertook a series of timed challenges which incorporated all or part of the assault course.

After the assault course activities, which lasted almost ninety minutes the players moved down to the banks of the River Exe where they were issued with another team challenge, which concluded with an informal game of nine-a-side rugby.

At the end of all of that the players were covered in thick black mud and all of them had to be hosed down, before changing for lunch and then moving on to the afternoon activities, which centred on the River Exe.

The overwhelming response from all of the squad was the day had been a great success.

Darren Veness told me: "It was an outstanding day and an amazing experience for everybody. It was hard work but well worth it. Certainly it made me realise just how fit the marines are when you think that they do the same exercises with a thirty two pound pack on their backs!"

Steffan Jones told me: "It was good fun, and about what I expected. I was well impressed with the mud rugby, except you couldn't see the try line!"

All-rounder Pete Trego, who demonstrated considerable skill on the ropes and who was just about the muddiest at the end of the morning, said: "It was great fun, a top drawer activity. It was good to be able to get my own back on some of my mates in the mud rugby, but I expect I'll pay for that later on in the season."

Rob Turner, who has just launched his benefit year, said: "It was hard work but good fun. Certainly I have never experienced anything like that before."

The day at Lympstone came about as a result of Fitness Instructor Andy Hurry making contact with the Commanding Officer at the camp, Lt. Colonel Andy Canning, who invited the Somerset squad down to use the facilities.

He told me: "I'm a cricket fan and a member of Somerset County Cricket Club so I am delighted to be able to invite our local first-class team down to use our facilities. We have lots of sporting groups at Lympstone, including the England Rugby Union side, but Somerset are always welcome here."

Andy Hurry told me: "The day worked really well for us and was good fun. It was a team building exercise and what happened here will have helped us to gel even more as a team. What they don't realise is just how hard that they have actually worked here. I'm pretty pleased with the way that everything has worked out, and it has brought back a lot of memories for me of the time that I spent down here as a P.T.I."

Royal Marine Fitness Instructor Paul Clark said: "It all went very well, and they worked hard. I was impressed with their level of fitness, especially as cricket is a girl's game!"

Without doubt the Somerset players will have learned a lot from the day, and will be the richer for their team building experiences at the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone.

At the end Steffan Jones told me: "I reckon that when the season starts Somerset will be the fittest squad of players on the county circuit," which is a tribute to all of the hard work that the players and everyone at the club have put in through the winter, and are building upon before the first championship match against Sussex which is exactly a month today.

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