The Saturday Interview

JAMES BRYANT has a lot of time on his hands. As the professional at Church he is expected to play on Sundays (and sometimes Saturdays as well!) and train two evenings a week.

When I ask him what he does with his free time his wicked sense of humour immediately shines through.

"I practice a lot. I am doing a lot of work on my bowling just now. I need to because I keep getting comments about it in the papers."

He is, of course, referring to the mistake made by a Lancashire Evening Telegraph reporter who shall remain nameless (it was me) in the report on Church's game against Enfield on Sunday.

The report stated that Bryant had chosen not to bowl in the game when, in fact, the right hand bat had not even been asked to bowl.

It seems the comment offended the fans and officials at Church more than it did the player.

"They are just staunch Church fans and they don't want anything bad said about their pro," says the 25-year-old, smiling.

Bryant gives the impression that not a lot bothers him. He lives with his South African girlfriend Nicola, 'a brain surgeon' -- a beauty therapist who works at Beauty Box near Whalley -- on the hills of Oswaldtwistle.

"It's good," says Bryant, who grew up on a farm in Natal. "I'm having a good time. It's a bit small but Accrington and Blackburn are not far." And Eastern Province team mate Dave Callaghan -- the St Annes pro who recommended Bryant to Church -- is only an hour's drive away.

"I have been over there a few times and we have been out in Blackpool. We have done the Pleasure Beach thing," he says, and I am surprised to learn that the 'Big One' rollercoaster is actually quite famous in South Africa.

"I do have a lot of spare time on my hands but I have a car so it is not so bad.

"I go to the gym a lot to try to keep strong. We practice twice a week and play weekends.

"And I play golf. I have just joined Green Haworth golf club but I went out for the first time this week and it rained."

The weather, of course, isn't the most enjoyable part of living in East Lancashire.

And playing cricket in it can throw up its own problems. "It makes it more difficult because the tracks are slower and the ball doesn't come onto the bat. It seams around and sometimes pops," he says.

"It means you have to graft more. But it is good because it keeps your standard up, it lets you know if your technique is up to scratch."

And the pressure on a pro to perform can be intense, whereas back home players are contracted for several years at a time.

"My form for Church has been up and down," he says, honestly. "I'm striving for a bit more consistency because I have had some good and some low innings.

"But I think all the guys know I am out there giving 100 per cent but I know I have to perform - it comes with the job. "One of the good things about being over here is that you can spend more time working on parts of your game that you wouldn't necessarily have time to practice on back home."

And the standard of the Transco Lancashire League is keeping Bryant on his toes.

"The standard is better than you think. A lot of the players know these conditions and the pros are good pros.

"It is not just a Sunday League walk in the park, the players are there to play hard and win."

Bryant's batting figures for Eastern Province are top class and it is no surprise that Church won't always expect him to bowl as well.

He was South Africa's top run-maker in the 1999-2000 season and his average in one-day games is an impressive 50. He was on tour with South Africa A against the West Indies last year and is desperate to fulfill his dream to play for the full national side.

"That is definitely my main ambition. But a lot depends on being in the right place at the right time and getting your break.

"International cricket is a big step and some people do well in it and some who are as good don't do well.

"But I would like to be given my chance."

Bryant is a South Africa A international, plays for a good young side in Eastern Province and has a nice off-season job at Church but, amazingly, he still talks of 'not making it'.

"I have a degree in Business Management to fall back on if it doesn't work out," he says.

"I am going to give cricket a good go but a lot of it is about timing and getting that break. To break into the international scene you have to have someone in there supporting you."

And is anyone in there supporting James Bryant? "I hope so, yeah."

Despite having a British passport and British ancestry -- although he can't remember where is father was born! -- Bryant has no plans to stay here long-term, despite the violence sometimes encountered in his home country.

"I love South Africa. There is a lot of trouble in the town where I grew up, Natal, on the farms, but now I live in Eastern Province.

"My sister still farms in South Africa but my parents have been sailing round the world for the past four or five years."

Bryant denies, though, that his family are the millionaires that 'sailing around the world' might suggest.

"No, my dad has always been keen on sailing and they just decided to sell the farm and off they went. But South Africa is such a beautiful country, I would struggle to live anywhere else."

And as we finish the interview, and I ask whether there is anything about his life that I haven't covered, the sense of humour emerges again.

"Only that I am a homocidal maniac," he says.

I hope he was joking. Living in Oswaldtwistle isn't that bad, surely.