Rutherford's father proudly watched every ball of debut century

Hamish Rutherford. Photo / Getty Images

Former New Zealand cricket captain Ken Rutherford watched every ball of son Hamish's century on debut at University Oval from his home in Johannesburg. The 23-year-old is one of just nine New Zealanders to achieve the feat.

Rutherford senior works for South African betting agency Phumelela. He woke in the middle of the night to see the end of England's innings then tuned in for New Zealand's reply. He repeated the dose on the second day.

"I'm a bit knackered, to be fair. The first half hour was hectic. I saw him get off the mark, then I was glued, hoping he'd get to some semblance of respectability like 30 or 40.

"I kept my wife awake in bed I was so restless [watching the television]. My daughters also tuned in. There were various bursts of applause.

"I was most impressed with his mental conditioning. He appeared totally unruffled. I concur with what Stockley [Ian Smith] said in the commentary box about how he didn't change his expression or process out there. Both sides of his family are so proud. He mightn't have even had a chance had it not been for Martin Guptill's injury."

Hamish's debut contrasts sharply with the torturous start to Ken's career. He mustered 12 runs from seven innings when thrown in to open as a 19-year-old against the West Indies in their pomp. It took several years for him to muster up respectability as a middle order batsman who would eventually led his country.

"What makes this such an uplifting story is that a year ago Hamish couldn't make the Otago first-class team. A lot of credit needs to go to [coach] Vaughan Johnson who backed him to perform.