Heavenly Headingley for Ramprakash

Mark Ramprakash modestly raises his helmet to acknowledge his hundred

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It is 4.12pm on August 2 2008. David Wainwright bowls a delivery just wide of off stump, Mark Ramprakash leans back and late-cuts the ball down to the third man boundary for four to bring up his hundred. His 100th hundred.

There were no histrionics from the man himself, just a raised bat as the Yorkshire fielders converged to congratulate him and shrieks of delight came from his own team-mates on the balcony.

"It was exciting to be on 99 hundreds," he told ecb.co.uk, less than an hour after reaching the landmark. "It was never a monkey on my back that I was desperate to get rid of - although it is good to cross that line.

"It has been a tough few weeks for me. I haven't scored runs or had a long innings in any competition.

"I don't mind that it took me a few games to reach it. Having to wait means that I have savoured the achievement. I didn't want it to be easy. Hundreds are difficult to get. They don't grow on trees."

As far as Ramprakash was concerned, though, he had saved the game for Surrey and his own personal milestone was a secondary achievement.

The stage had been perfectly set for him to come in and bat out the day. He came to the crease at the start of the second over knowing he had to score runs if Surrey were to claim a draw.

"We were focused on the situation and just playing the game," he agreed. "I never look too far ahead. We knew we had to battle it out. That pre-lunch session was important."

The shot which brought up Ramprakash's hundred was unsurprisingly his favourite of the innings

By a twist of fate, it was at Headingley where Ramprakash scored his maiden first-class hundred against Yorkshire in 1989 - a symmetry which was not lost on him.

"I was out with my parents a couple of days ago and I said, 'Wouldn't it be funny if my 100th was here?' I feel comfortable at Headingley. My Test debut was also made here.

"When I got to 49, (Darren) Gough mentioned it to me, so he obviously knew too."

But he admits that when he made that first one, he never expected that 19 years later he would be celebrating his 100th.

"I was just so pleased to get a first-class hundred," he said. "Mike Gatting (Middlesex captain) made a big deal of celebrating it with me. We had a drink in the bar and all went out for fish and chips. I have fond memories of Headingley.

"The pitch at that time was an old style Headingley wicket, plenty of variable bounce. This one wasn't quite so bad as that.

"Both attacks I faced were very disciplined and hit the bat hard. Paul Jarvis and Peter Hartley played in that game, and the three seamers here in Gough, Tim Bresnan and Deon Kruis bowled well and intelligently."

Ramprakash is presented with a silver plate by Alan Butcher

Of his 100 hundreds, Ramprakash feels that the hardest attack he had to face was the Australia line-up of 2001, when he made his second Test century, in the Ashes.

"The pitch was excellent, but I came up against (Glenn) McGrath, (Jason) Gillespie, (Brett) Lee and (Shane) Warne. I really had to work hard for that one."

Ramprakash scored his 99th hundred against Sussex in May and it has taken him three months to record his 100th, albeit with a couple of weeks of Twenty20 Cup cricket thrown in.

"It was difficult to get into any sort of rhythm. I wasn't spending long enough at the crease," he admitted.

"I broke the bat I had been using for the last two years in that innings at Hove and have struggled since.

"I borrowed a bat off Scott Newman today. The first time I had hit a ball with it was yesterday. I think he might let me keep that one now."

As Ramprakash neared the milestone, you could feel the tension in the Headingley crowd, but he tried not to think about it as he inched ever closer.

"You do get thoughts going through your mind, but the way things had been going I wasn't going to take anything for granted," he confirmed.

"I dared not dwell on it too much. You only need to get one good ball and you are out. I had to concentrate very hard."

Like all good things, it was worth the wait.