Stephen Cook revealed a phone call from his father Jimmy helped set him up for a hundred on his South Africa debut at Centurion.
At the age of 33 Cook was finally handed a long-awaited chance at the top of the order in the fourth Test against England, following in the footsteps of his dad, who turned out for his country in 1992.
But there was one piece of family history Cook junior was happy to avoid replicating, with fellow opener Jimmy having fallen for a golden duck at the hands of India's Kapil Dev.
On this occasion Cook was offered a leg stump half-volley by James Anderson and gladly whipped it to the boundary to kick off a five-hour 115 that helped the Proteas to 329 for five at stumps.
"Last night before bed he called me and said 'boy, if you don't get out to the first one you're already better than me', so I was really glad to get that first one off the pads," he said.
"I saw him at the end and he came over and said he was really proud of me.
"I owe him a lot because he fed bowling machines and threw balls down at me for years.
"It's a lifelong dream come true."
The selectors appeared to have passed Cook by until a belated call-up for this Test, despite a solid first-class record, a sound technique and a hard-fought half-century against England in a tour match before Christmas.
But despite his advancing years, Cook looked at the success of other late bloomers like Australia's Chris Rogers or Adam Voges for inspiration.
""As time wore on I knew it was getting more difficult and less likely I'd make my debut," he admitted.
"But I never gave up hope. It always felt like the day would come.
"I looked at the couple of Australian guys and someone like (South Africa's) Neil McKenzie, who had a second coming to Test cricket at a later age.
"Those guys kept my belief going. It did happen to other people and it could happen to me.
"I spent a bit of time in the nineties today but I thought to myself 'I've waited so long for this, even if I spend another hour here it will be worth it'."
Source: PA
