When Henry Cooper scored his maiden List A one-day century - a ballistic 146 not out - in The Ford Trophy Elimination Final on Wednesday, those old enough to remember Domestic cricket in the 1980s and 1990s remarked there were shades of the old man in the timely knock.
Like his son, Barry Cooper was a Northland stalwart and Northern Districts representative who played 80 one-day games for ND.
He scored his only century in this format against the Otago Volts in 1994/95, his second-to-last season in the maroon and gold - and the year that they won the national title. He was named the Player of the Tournament after the Final, the allrounder batting at three and taking three catches as ND rolled Wellington for just 108 in the chase.
Barry Cooper holds the Shell Cup aloft after ND win at the Basin in 1995 | PHOTOSPORT
Northern Districts had been the second qualifier that season as well, so up in Whangarei you can be sure the Coopers will be hoping history repeats for son Henry this Saturday in Christchurch.
On the other side of the dressing room walls, BLACKCAP Tom Latham probably doesn't need too many tips from the old man these days, but his father also knows a thing or two about national one-day Finals in New Zealand Domestic cricket.
A celebrated BLACKCAP batsman himself, Rod Latham was in the Canterbury teams that contested the national one-day Final in 1980/81, 1981/82, 1991/92, 1992/93 and 1993/94 during his long career in the red and black.
Trophy hunter Rod Latham, third from right in the front row
His first two title tilts as a youngster in a seasoned side were unsuccessful, but by the 90s Canterbury was enjoying its strongest era. At Lancaster Park in 1992 Canterbury won a last-over thriller over Wellington by three runs; after Latham had scored 80 and taken two wickets in the semi-final against CD to get them there.
The next season the side beat Otago by 14 runs in Dunedin, and Latham was there again for the threepeat against CD the next summer in Napier. His last appearance in the competition came the following year when Canterbury lost a semi-final by 10 wickets to Wellington.
ND quick Scott Kuggeleijn's father Chris Kuggeleijn also represented ND and the BLACKCAPS, and also coached ND in the competition - that's him (standing at right, above PHOTOSPORT) as the successful coach after the team's 1998 Shell Cup triumph.
The last match of Chris Kuggeleijn's List A career was the national one-day semi-final in 1990/91, when he took 3/50. He was part of the ND side that contested the 1979 Final back when it was still a knockout competition, ND winning the Cup by two wickets in Dunedin. Canterbury had won the previous two seasons with ND the beaten Finalists and Kuggeleijn appearing in all three Finals.
Scott Kuggeleijn | MBUTCHER
Canterbury quick Ed Nuttall's father Andrew Nuttall was an off-spinner for Canterbury in the 1980s: he played 10 List As for the red and blacks between 1982 and 1990, but never got to take the field in a Final.
Leo Carter's father, current WHITE FERNS coach and former Canterbury coach and player Bob Carter, meanwhile played in the 1981/82 Final alongside Rod Latham, top-scoring with 66 and taking Canterbury's only two wickets.
Northern Districts will turn up at Hagley Oval for this summer's Final with two off-spinning brothers side by side in the squad - a big day for the Walker family with both Joe Walker and younger brother Freddy Walker in line to play their first Grand Final, and hoping ND can break its decade-long title drought.
ND's Zak Gibson also has a cousin, Jake Gibson, who played for the ND one-day side earlier this season.
