Interview by BBC Sport's Thrasy Petropoulos

Former South Africa Test batsman Jonty Rhodes is playing his first season with English county Gloucestershire.

Q. When Gloucestershire announced you had been signed, they made it clear they were looking for more than runs. What can we look forward to for the rest of the summer?

Rhodes has been among the runs already this summer

A. It's true, they've tried really hard to sell me as not just as a batting package but as someone who offers a lot more, one of which is obviously fielding.

I spoke to John Bracewell before the start of the season and said that if he wanted to use me in different ways then I would be more than happy to co-operate.

There are quite a few young talented guys in the Gloucester set up that I can help and I can drop into their Academy.

But if you see the timetable, there aren't many days off in the next couple of months.

Q. But will there be Colin Bland-style fielding exhibitions on rainy days?

A. I don't think so. I put on a bit of a fielding display before the World Cup in this country (1999) when a practice game at Canterbury was washed out

But I don't see myself as an entertainer. It is just what I do. I am not out there to entertain the public.

Hopefully they will get that from the way I play the game.

The biggest problem is when I do field there is always the danger I will be injured. What would happen if I did a fielding display and put a finger out? It wouldn't go down too well.

Q. Will the fixture list test even your powers of enthusiasm?

There will be no fielding exhibitions at Bristol

A. Funny you should ask that. When I spoke to John Bracewell and asked him what goals I should be setting myself for an English season, he just said to maintain my enthusiasm for six months.

There is so much cricket to be played, but I'm just grateful for the experience.

I retired from Test cricket two years ago and have only played something like six first-class games in the past two years, so I am fresh.

Q. What does it feel like to be Jonty Rhodes, the former South African international, now that you've retired from the one-day game as well?

A. It does feel a bit strange. The boys are in Bangladesh at the moment - doing well - and there a few new faces in the side.

I suppose if I was sitting at home not playing then it really would be strange but I walked straight into this.

Q. And how is the broken hand that ended your involvement in the World Cup?

A. Fully healed. I've taken a few blows on it already and even with the cold weather and the hard ball it has stood up well.

Q. Everywhere you look in county cricket there are South Africans playing under European Union passports - Nic Pothas, Kevin Pieterson, Greg Smith, Sven Koenig. Good or bad thing?

A. I can see where the guys here are coming from when they say it's a problem.

I see the same thing developing in South Africa with quota systems.

Officially they have been scrapped by the UCB but they have said that it is the provinces' responsibility to ensure that transformation is maintained in the country.

As a result quite a few South Africans have gone abroad but they are putting the same pressures on the system here that they were being subjected to back home.

I believe in overseas cricketers who are a major part of a club.

I can see the impact that the great Malcolm Marshall had at Natal; Shaun Pollock, Dale Benkenstein, Lance Klusener were all 21 or 22 at the time and benefited enormously.

Batsman Tim Hancock is a dressing room joker

Q. How do you compare South African dressing rooms to the mood at Gloucestershire?

A. I have been in tears of laughter here. The guys have got such a dry sense of humour.

You really have to concentrate to see whether they are pulling your leg.

Tim Hancock, for me, is hilarious. I have to listen carefully when he opens his mouth to know whether he is being serious or not.