THIS leopard HAS changed its spots.

The old Billy Stelling was a snarling big cat, prowling South African cricket's game reserves.

The new Billy Stelling is something of a pussycat.

Now, after a morning's training and a quick stint on a Cape Town beach, girlfriend Lyle returns to find her tea on the table, a clean flat and laundered clothes.

The taming has been a self-motivated exercise.

Stelling had taken a good, long look at himself - and didn't like what he saw.

"I was an aggressive person so I made a conscious effort to be nicer to people, to respect other people and not be rude or selfish.

"It has been hard and it has taken a long while, because people put you in a certain bracket and that tends to stick with you.

"People say 'You do this and that' but I say 'No, I haven't done that for two years'.

"It takes a while before it rubs off on everyone else, but I think it has worked.

"I'm now all nice and sweet," grinned the new East Lancashire professional.

His rebellious nature is perhaps symptomatic of the classic 'rich kid' syndrome.

The son of a Dutch property developer father and a teacher mother, who also worked in an art gallery, Billy was educated at private schools in Johannesburg.

He left one Natal school for "disciplinary reasons" and spent just one year at the University of Cape Town before concentrating on his cricket. The 26-year-old's experimental close-cropped haircut reveals a tell-tale scar of his student days.

During a college reunion at a Greek restaurant the inevitable plate smashing produced a self-inflicted head wound which was hastily bandaged with Billy's tie as the brouhaha continued unabated.

As academic priorities subsided and rugby fitness was lost, cricket began to take over.

After selection for the Western Province side, a spate of injuries left Billy on the fringe of first class cricket.

His club, Greenpoint, decided he would have more chance in Boland where he bats at six and bowls a brisk medium pace.

Spells in England with Stratford in the Birmingham League and Eversley in the Thames Valley League, were punctuated by appearances for Hampshire seconds and the Dutch side in last season's Nat West Trophy.

The lifestyle transformation is set to continue on his return to South Africa. Billy and Lyle, who is looking for a summer job in this area, plan to settle in Stellenbosch, a small town in the heart of wine-growing country, 20km from Boland's home ground of Paarl.

It is a move also induced by the quest for an environment more compatible with the new Stelling, dumping cliquey and pretentious Cape Town for the more down-to-earth and studenty Stellenbosch.

Lancashire League opponents, however, should not mistake "relaxed" for "pushover".

"I think aggression on the field is good, as long as it is channelled.

"I don't sledge unless they sledge me personally first and I do not try to take wickets like that.

"It makes me concentrate harder and doesn't unnerve me - it makes me more determined to win.

"Here, I take my cricket as seriously as I do at home.

"I was actually more nervous last Sunday than when I am playing in a first class game at home.

"I got myself out against Lowerhouse caught at point - I have to learn to be more responsible," he confessed.

And Billy has already shown that to be an attainable goal.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.