WHENEVER the gigantic Lloyd James strolled out to the crease, one would always sense that something very special was about to unfold. And the towering former St. George's Cup Match batsman rarely disappointed with the willow in his mighty hands.

In 1962, James bettered Timmy Edward's previous record (170 not out) for the highest individual score in the Cup Match classic by three runs - only a year after amassing 157 to become the first batsman to score two centuries in the annual two-day holiday event.

James' individual record stood for some 39 years before Janeiro Tucker surpassed the milestone in 2001.

He amassed 988 runs during a Cup Match career which spanned 19 years, and is the classic's second most prolific batsman behind all-time leader, Wendell Smith (1,143).

James retired in 1974, 12 runs shy of becoming the first batsman to surpass the then unprecedented 1,000-run mark. He also shares batting partnership records for the seventh and eighth wickets with Alfred Hall (173) and Lee Raynor (96).

Now at the age of 67, James still possesses a powerful swing and can easily be spotted on the front or back nine of the golf course these days whenever he's not behind the wheel of his taxi.

"I always wanted to play in Cup Match and I always felt that I would," recalled James earlier this week.

"And I practised hard and long from when I was 16 year old - so it was a goal that I set out to achieve way ahead of time. I can remember my friends laughing at me when I paid my dues down at St.George's Cricket Club.

"They told me I might as well be like everyone else and pay at the gate to watch the match."

Needless to add, it was James who would have the final laugh.

"When I made Cup Match, those same guys said, 'we knew that you could do it'. They would've discouraged me if I was a weak-minded person from the very beginning, but you must believe in yourself and work hard toward your goals. And I did."

James described what it felt like to score a maiden Cup Match century in 1961.

"I used to day-dream about making a century in Cup Match - I lived through it long before I made it," he said. "It may sound like a joke, but I used to sit down and day-dream the whole way through Cup Match, and I always felt that I was going to make a century.

"I was anxious to get out there, even before the actual game had started. Lots of times you have these ambitions and you feel that you can do them, but you don't always achieve them - but they are achievable. I guess I believed in myself more then anybody else."

James ultimately fell shy of Timmy Edward's previous record of 170 by 11 runs.

However, 12 months later, there would be no denying him the milestone.

"It felt great. Again I felt that I could do it - even the next year," he added. But the late Somerset Bridge spinner Mackie Simmons had ideas in mind.

"Mackie used set a trap for me, but all the big scores that I ever made, Mackie was playing," recalled James. "He knew that I liked that pull shot, and that's where he used to bowl to me - but at different lengths and at different speeds. He was a good bowler because he bowled from his head."

James also blasted a whirlwind 157 during a Western Counties Match while playing for club team Warwick.

During his career, James batted on both coconut matting and later on turf wickets.

"For me, I didn't play long enough to get a full grasp of the turf. But I know from playing a few times on turf I would go back to pull the ball and it would stay low, and there wasn't much movement off the turf like it was on the concrete," he noted. "On concrete, the spinners used to get a lot of movement, whereas on the turf, it wasn't all that movement. I can remember once during a county match at Southampton Oval my brother El (Elvin James) and myself just made runs like they were going out of style.

"We each scored centuries on that turf wicket - it certainly didn't favour the bowlers. They were just bowling all in vain.

"So you can make a lot of runs on turf if the wicket isn't designed for the bowler, and I notice nowadays turf wickets are more or less designed for batsmen to make more runs."

James said every game in which he played in was "special".

"And I made special preparations for every cricket match that I played," he added. "Not just Cup Match."

James said he only has one great regret - losing four hours of play during the 1962 Cup Match classic at Wellington Oval.

"It was a big disappointment mainly because we lost four hours of play through rain in the morning. And I really wanted to stretch that record beyond the 200 mark and even further," he said.

"But we lost four hours and I had dreamed of making over 300 runs. I had my strategy all lined up for 200 and then after that open up and try to make that other 100 runs as quickly as possible. That was my dream and I wasn't able to achieve it because of the rain - that was the biggest disappointment during my career."

IRONICALLY, James' greatest pleasure was reaching the 173 in the same match. He also explained why he never really bothered trying to go, before Wendell Smith came along, where no other batsmen had previously been before - beyond the elusive 1,000-run mark in Cup Match.

"Down toward the end of my Cup Match days I began to feel a bit nervous about making a duck - I never made a duck in Cup Match before. And so I figured that if I continued on playing long enough eventually it would come," he said.

"So I didn't hesitate to get out of the game before that big duck came - it had to come, but I didn't hang around because after awhile winning lost a lot of its excitement - we were winning so often during that period. And then again I decided it was time to move on and let the younger fellows enjoy it."

James said he never doubted his previous record for the highest individual score in Cup Match would last forever - though it did take awhile to be bettered, 39 years to be exact.

"Once they moved to the turf wickets, I knew it was just going to be a matter of time. Lionel Thomas (former St. George's batsman) managed to reach the brink one year (1977), but he got out on 154," recalled James.

James is also a professional golfer, his greatest achievement on the course came in 1994 when he played in the US Open Senior Championship alongside the likes of yet another living legend, Jack (The Golden Bear) Nicholas.