Ray Jennings could not watch his son's maiden ton due to power cut

Former cricketer and coach Ray Jennings is a proud father at the moment. His son, Keaton Jennings, scored a magnificent ton on his Test debut against India today. Keaton was roped in as the replacement for Haseeb Hameed after the latter had a finger injury. While it was a dream debut for Keaton Jennings, his father could not watch his son’s glory. Ray Jennings is with his wife at a resort in Mauritius. When Keaton was batting on 96, there was a power failure at the resort. The power supply came back only after an hour.

His parents anxiously waited to know whether their son reached the three-figure mark. When the light came back on, Keaton was batting on 111. “It came back on when he was on 111 and then he scored one more run and he was out,” quoted Ray Jennings.

Ray was just a flight away from being in Mumbai. However, the senior Jennings opted to let his own enjoy his time. He revealed that he knew Keaton had a good chance of making his Test debut soon. “It’s my son’s space. It’s his tour and I didn’t want to get in the way. It’s his domain. I knew once Haseeb Hameed broke his finger that there was a 98% chance he would be playing but I also knew it was going to be tough,” quoted the South African.

He further added that the stage was not ideal for his son kick start the career. He was against all odds before making his debut. Explaining this, he said, “To go from South Africa to England to Dubai to India and into a series where the side is two-nil down, where you don’t know really anyone besides Ben Stokes, and then to open the batting in India there is definitely going to be pressure. But I knew he would need to figure out how he is going to handle that.”

A very nostalgic and proud Ray Jennings called the day as the best of his life. “This is my best day of sporting life. My nerves are shot. You train your kid from the age of five and you see the fire in him, you see his disappointments and his success. It’s just wonderful. This is his glory,” said the former South African coach.

Lastly, Ray remarked how well things have shaped up for his son in the last few months. He mentioned that Keaton escalated really well from being in Durham to scoring a Test ton. He now hopes for an England win. “You can’t buy what he has had in the last six months – from captaining Durham, to the Lions, to the call-up. Now all it needs is for England to win this game and the next one and walk away with a drawn series. That will be a dream 2016 for any cricketer,” he conceded.