Stephen Cook credits father Jimmy for inspirational debut Test ton

South Africa opener Stephen Cook has dedicated his debut Test century to his father Jimmy, who suffered a golden duck on his own international debut in 1992.

The 33-year-old left-hander dispatched his first ball in Test cricket to the boundary and went on to make a brilliant 115-run knock as South Africa made 329 for five at stumps on the opening day of the fourth and final match on Friday.

Cook revealed that his dad had called him the night before his debut and remarked, 'my boy, if you just don't get out to the first one you are already better than me?'. He then admitted that he was glad to have got the first one off the pads, Sport24 reported.

Jimmy, who had to wait until he was 39 to make his first official international appearance, was a prolific scorer in 19 'rebel Tests' and had earlier smashed a century on his unofficial debut against an English team in 1981/82.

Dedicating his ton to Jimmy, Cook further said that his father had thrown balls and fed him bowling machines for many years growing up.