Keaton, who has been drafted into the England squad for the last two Tests against India as the replacement for injured opener Haseeb Hameed, is the son of former South African cricketer and coach Ray Jennings.
Cricketer or not, a father is called either a dad, papa or appa etc, but Keaton Jennings grew up calling his parent "coach".
"I can't remember the last time I called him dad," said Keaton, who is the son of former South African cricketer and coach Ray Jennings.
Keaton, who has been drafted into the England squad for the last two Tests against India as the replacement for injured opener Haseeb Hameed, is the son of former South African cricketer and coach Ray Jennings.
There have been many a father-son combination in international cricket, most notably the Amarnaths (Lala, Surinder and Mohinder), the Pataudis (Nawab of Pataudi Sr-Nawab of Pataudi Jr, the Manjrekars (Vijay and Sanjay) from India, the Broads (Chris & Stuart), the Marshs (Geoff, Shaun and Mitchell) from Australia and Peter Pollock-Shaun Pollock from South Africa, just to name a few.
The Jennings, though, share a different kind of a relationship, and the 24-year-old recounts the day when it underwent a transformation.
"When I was nine or 10 years old, we were training at the nets. It was one of those days when I had decided not to listen to my father. He threw me a ball, I got out. Second ball, I got out. He told me, 'you get out one more time, and you're going home'. He threw me the third ball, I got out. He put his bag down and walked off. From that day, he was coach to me," Keaton said here on Tuesday.
From then on, Keaton followed whatever path Ray asked him to take. Studying in a school in Johannesburg that had former Proteas skipper Graeme Smith as an alumnus, Keaton captained the South Africa U-19 team. But Ray felt his son's professional career would never take off in South Africa, much like it didn't for him, having never played a Test despite playing 159 first class games between 1973 and 1992 when South Africa remained in cricketing isolation for a majority of duration.
Ray, thus, asked Keaton to migrate to England. Promising to commit fully to a career with the Three Lions, the latter was picked up by Durham in 2012. The decision of the father – coach, mind you – paid off, with the left-handed opening batsman all set to make his Test debut for England when the fourth Test starts here on Thursday.
Jennings junior might have seen the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss, Matt Prior and Jonathan Trott make it big in cricket after switching from South Africa to England, but it was Ray's insistence that propelled him to take what he calls was a "really tough" decision.
"I'm probably closer to him (Ray) than anybody else in the world, from the point of view of a father, a role model and a coach. I'm blessed to have a person in my life whom I trust with my life, who can guide me throughout my career," Keaton, who is also currently pursuing B. Com in financial accounting back home, said.
The guiding process is still on. Having coached the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League from 2009-2013, Ray knows a thing or two about Indian conditions, which he is passing on to Keaton.
"We chatted a lot over the last week or so. He just told me to enjoy the process and the culture of India. Coming with him in 2009 and 2010 to the IPL, I was bit of a tourist and I really enjoyed it. So I'm glad to be back," Keaton said.
There was one important advice from Ray, though. "One of his big tips was drink lots of water in India, and make sure it's from a closed bottle," Keaton said.
Is that a coach talking, or a father?
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Keaton Jennings isn't the only one following his father's footsteps. His older brother, 37-year-old Dylan, has also played first 34 first-class matches for South Africa while Ray's brother, Kenneth, has also played domestic cricket in the country. That's one big cricketing family, isn't it? "Having to grow up in a cricketing family, you talk a lot of cricket. And it's very intense from a training and professionalism view point," Keaton said. "But it's a very loving environment. My mom softens my dad in some very nice ways, and she's kind of taken the edge off him at home."
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