| Eric Bryant | |
| Country: | England |
| Fullname: | Leonard Eric Bryant |
| Birth Date: | 2 June 1936 |
| Birth Place: | Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England |
| Death Place: | Brent Knoll, Somerset, England |
| Batting: | Left-handed |
| Bowling: | Slow left-arm orthodox |
| Role: | Bowler |
| Club1: | Somerset |
| Type1: | FC |
| Debutdate1: | 31 May |
| Debutyear1: | 1958 |
| Debutfor1: | Somerset |
| Debutagainst1: | Sussex |
| Lastdate1: | 29 July |
| Lastyear1: | 1960 |
| Lastfor1: | Somerset |
| Lastagainst1: | Derbyshire |
| Columns: | 1 |
| Column1: | First-class |
| Matches1: | 22 |
| Runs1: | 133 |
| Bat Avg1: | 8.86 |
| 100S/50S1: | 0/0 |
| Top Score1: | 17 |
| Deliveries1: | 2,288 |
| Wickets1: | 34 |
| Bowl Avg1: | 27.73 |
| Fivefor1: | 1 |
| Tenfor1: | 0 |
| Best Bowling1: | 5/64 |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 10/– |
| Date: | 6 July |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Source: | https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3459/3459.html CricketArchive |
Leonard Eric Bryant (2 June 1936 – 28 November 1999), played first-class cricket for Somerset between 1958 and 1960.
A left-handed lower order batsman and a slow left-arm spin bowler whose action was allegedly modelled on that of Tony Lock,[1] Bryant played 15 matches for the Somerset side that finished third in the County Championship in 1958, equalling the best-ever finish by the county to that time. He took only 25 wickets, but that included five in an innings – five for 64 – against Worcestershire to win the match where Australian Colin McCool made his highest score in English cricket.[2] Wisden noted that Bryant "showed promise".[3]
However, he played only a handful matches in the drier summer of 1959 and in his first first-class game of 1960, against Gloucestershire at Bath, he was no-balled five times by umpire Hugo Yarnold for throwing.[4] [5] Though he reappeared in two further matches that summer without incident, he was not re-engaged by Somerset at the end of the season and did not appear again in first-class cricket.