His father said: "During the winter we worked on a few technical things in the indoor nets. That is the hard, unglamorous side of sport but you have to do it if you want to succeed - and Mark wanted to. I feel immensely proud. It was the best day I've had in cricket. I don't think it makes much difference that I have been a professional player - any father would feel the same. As he appoached the 100-mark, I was doing a fair bit of shouting at the TV."