Proud parents John and Belinda Tucker always knew their son Janeiro had it in him to be something special.

And dad thinks the best is yet to come from the Somerset player who blasted his way into the record books last Thursday at Wellington Oval when he posted the highest individual score ever recorded in Cup Match 186 _ which beat the 173 not out posted by Lloyd James 39 years prior.

It could not have been more timely, coming on the occasion of the 100th match and just hours after the host club honoured some of the other record breakers like Wendell Smith (most runs, 1,143), Clarence Parfitt (most wickets, 115) and Lloyd James whose record was the longest of all the individual records in Cup Match.

Now the name Janeiro Tucker will be spoken in the same breath as the legends of the past. It is fitting that Smith, Parfitt and James were not only there to see the record broken but also made their way out onto the pitch to offer their congratulations.

So too, did Tucker's parents who were sitting in the upper balcony of the clubhouse, watching him move closer to the evasive record. When James' record was set the game was held up for about 15 minutes while fans swarmed onto the pitch.

"When he got the century I said 'hey, they should let him go after the record','' said John, a former Somerset captain and top batsman.

"He was hitting the ball so clean and spectacular, his timing was really on. When he got to about 137, I said 'Janeiro is going to break the record, if he keeps his head calm, cool and collected, picks up the bad balls to hit and respects the good balls'. When he did it I didn't know what to do at first.

"We were up in the VIP lounge for the whole two days and everybody up there said 'hey, this guy is going to break the record'."

The tension was becoming unbearable as Janeiro continued to hit boundaries, moving past Lloyd Simmons' 146, then Lionel Thomas' 154, Lloyd James' other top score of 157 and onto the 170 not out which made Winton (Timmy) Edwards the highest Somerset scorer in a Cup Match innings. That record stood for 51 years but Edwards graciously walked out onto the pitch to congratulate the 26 year-old batsman.

Then Tucker set his sights on the most elusive record of all, Lloyd James' 173.

"I sang out to one of the Somerset trainers, Mark Trott, to send word out to him (Janeiro) because I didn't think he realised the record was 173," said Janeiro's father.

"I sent the word to Mark to let (batting partner) Richard Basden know he was close to the record and to keep talking to him. The word got to Richard and he kept him calm. Richard batted with Janeiro when he made the 100 in St. George's in 1999 and was batting with him again when he broke the record.

"I was delighted, it was a fantastic feeling for my wife and I. When he broke the record everybody ran onto the field, but I just stayed back a bit. When the Somerset team went onto the field I was just behind them and then my wife and I went over to him.

"We congratulated him and then the president of Somerset Cricket Club, Colin Smith, came over to Janeiro and said 'Mr. James is over there' and we took him over to Mr. James.

"When Janeiro went to 172 Timmy Edwards walked out there by himself and gave him a hug, shook his hand and said a few words to him. As a matter of fact Timmy Edwards is a cousin of mine and he said 'I had to do it because he broke my record'."

In a Cup Match publication in 1991, John Tucker was rated as one of the top 12 players to represent Somerset in Cup Match. He is in esteemed company alongside the likes of Timmy Edwards, Colin Blades, Nigel (Chopper) Hazel, Alma (Champ) Hunt and father and son Warren and Lloyd Simmons.

If the list is ever updated, another father and son would certainly appear, with Janeiro certain to leave a last impression with his knock in the first innings.

"I've had 84 not out and 71 not out but never had a century, so for him to break that record it was a fantastic feeling," said Tucker Sr.

There was a better chance of rain during the two days of Cup Match than a record falling, but the showers were brief and either prior to the start on the first day or after play ended.

"I thought it was going to rain during Cup Match, too, because when I was leaving home on Thursday and Friday it was raining hard,'' said Tucker. "As a matter of fact it was all the way down to Collector's Hill, but when I got on the other side of Collector's Hill the roads were dry."

Tucker says Janeiro kept a cool even when the ground erupted after he passed James' mark.

"He's a very cool type of person, particularly when it comes to these types of things," said his father.

"I know he was very fatigued because when I went out to him and put my arms around him and congratulated him on the achievement. I said to him, 'Neiro, go for the 200'. He said 'daddy, I'm so fatigued and drained'. I was putting water all over his head and sponging him off.

"I was telling those guys to give him some Powerade for some energy."

Tucker admits his heart sank when Janeiro lofted a chance to Glenn Blakeney at deep extra cover. He appeared to hold back on the shot.

"If he had followed all the way through the ball could have gone for six," his father believes. "He played a half-cocked shot."

Tucker revealed that prior to the match he had advised his son to keep his head, not play too aggressive and keep his bat and pad close together.

"On the Wednesday evening before he went into the hotel I told him again and on the Thursday morning I talked to him again," the father revealed.

"I said 'most of the time when you get out you get yourself out'. I said 'you are such a good batsman, with a lot of skills and you can do it'.

"It's strange because on the Saturday night I was at Ricky Hill's mother's house to a party and my cellular rang and somebody called the team in. Everybody went quiet when I called the team off and I called Corey's (Hill) name last and his momma jumped for joy. I said 'you know something, Janeiro's going to make a century this years'."

Added Tucker: "You haven't seen the best of him yet, like I was telling people a couple of years ago. I know his potential, it's been a lot of teaching from the younger days.

"I can recall when I used to play cricket I would come home and play cricket with him in the porch or in the hallway. Wherever I went to play cricket he always had a bat and a ball with him and you always saw him out there during the interval hitting his rubber ball, laughing and smiling.

"You saw the talent then and it was just a matter of keeping with him and showing him the correct strokes."

Those smiles were not evident if his parents left the bat at home. "If I forgot that bat I would have to turn around and go back home and get his bat and ball," mom Belinda Tucker recalls.

Not many runs have flowed off Janeiro's bat this year in the league, but he clearly made up for it in Cup Match.

"I mentioned to John a while back that he hasn't done too much in the league this year and I was hoping he would do something for Cup Match,'' said Mrs. Tucker.

"Even before they picked the team I said to John, 'Janeiro's going to make some runs in Cup Match this years' because he's had such a bad patch. I think all the training he was doing for ICC took him off a bit because he had been training, training, training. When it came to league cricket on Sunday's he was tired and couldn't do too much."

And even if she did expect him to score runs in Cup Match, breaking the record was more than anybody expected. And like her husband, she thinks the best is still yet to come from their son.

"When John was playing he wasn't a three-point man (all-rounder), he used to bowl but he didn't get much of a chance because there were so many good bowlers in Rangers' team," said his wife.

"But with Janeiro I think he has accomplished a bit more, because he's a three-pointer while his daddy was a two. I'm very proud of him, very much so. Even the people who were for St. George's were still proud of him.

"After he got the 100 I said to the people upstairs 'my son is going to go on and get 150'. And then when he got that somebody mentioned Lloyd James' record and I said I would like to see him pass that and get 200 runs if he can."

Added Mrs. Tucker: "If he could have gotten that it would have been nice too, but at least he broke Lloyd James' record. I was more proud of that than anything.

"When we went out there to him you could see he was really exhausted. I was telling John I would like to see him do something like this up Somerset next year being it's their 100th (anniversary)."

John is ranked high in the batting averages, scoring 650 runs which is the 13th highest in Cup Match. He is also 13th in the batting averages, with those runs coming at an average of 29.55 per innings. He was also one of the best slip fielders and the 22 catches he held are second only to Calvin (Bummy) Symonds' 24.

In the next couple 15 years or so a third Tucker generation player could be making his mark in local cricket.

"Janeiro has a son who just turned a year and his poppa has him doing the same thing," said Mrs. Tucker.

"He told him 'I'm going to make a cricketer out of you, too'! Janeiro was like that from a baby, I saw it coming!"