By Neil Manthorp With the South Africa team in Auckland

Not since he was a 20-year-old playing cricket as an off-spinner and rugby as a highly-rated scrum half has anyone ever accused Gary Kirsten of having his head in the clouds.

A former rugby star, Kirsten wants time to relax with his family

But the smile on his face and the vaguest sense of bewilderment ahead of his 100th - and penultimate - Test match for South Africa suggests he may be close now.

"If anybody had told me in 1994 when I made my debut that I would play 100 Tests for my country I would have asked them what they were smoking," says the 36-year-old with a grin.

"I know it sounds like a clich� but I promise you it's true - it is such an honour.

"I feel deeply humbled by the occasion and the significance of it."

When he takes the field for South Africa against New Zealand at Auckland's Eden Park on Thursday (2130 Wednesday GMT) Kirsten will be the first South African in triple figures.

He confirmed this week he will call time on his Test career after this series.

There comes a time for everyone to move on and this is definitely the right time for me Gary Kirsten

"For most of my career we looked at the opposition in awe because of their experience and their records, but now we will have someone with 100 caps and 20 centuries" he says.

"Shaun [Pollock] and Jacques [Kallis] will overtake me soon enough but it still means a lot to be the first there, to set a benchmark for the next generations to aim at."

Kallis' recent, astonishing run of five centuries in as many Tests that has taken his career aggregate to 5728, just 1582 behind Kirsten's current total of 7210.

"I just hope Jacques allows me to be South Africa's leading run scorer for a couple of weeks before people forget who I was!" Kirsten jokes.

"I shudder to think how good he'll be in a few years time because I don't believe you peak as a batsman until you're into your 30s."

KIRSTEN FACTFILE Born: Cape Town, 23/11/1967 Tests: 99 7210 runs, ave 45.92, high 275 ODIs: 185 6798 runs, ave 40.95, high 188*

Kirsten is equally sure about the best players he has faced: "Glenn McGrath and Courtney Walsh. I'd be averaging 60 if they'd played basketball instead of cricket!

"They are great sportsmen and I guess they had me worked out, but I made some runs against them too, occasionally."

Career highlights are less easy to choose although South Africa's three Test resounding triumphs at Lord's in 1994, 1998 and 2003 are obvious choices.

"The first time was historic, the first team at the home of cricket after isolation," he recalls.

"The second time seemed to defy belief, that we could actually do it again.

Kirsten scored his 21st Test ton in the first match of this series

"And then last year, when Graeme [Smith] made his second successive double century and I also got my name on the honours board, it felt as satisfying as anything I've ever been involved with in sport."

Twin hundreds in South Africa's first Test at what he describes as "the other home of cricket", Eden Gardens in Calcutta, in 1996 will forever remain etched in Kirsten's thoughts.

And the day he carried his bat for an unbeaten 100 against Pakistan in Faisalabad a year later is not far behind.

South Africa were 98-7 when Kirsten and Pat Symcox initiated a recovery that led to a series victory.

Although he appeared calm when announcing a decision his friends and family had known for months, Kirsten admits confirming his retirement was "emotional".

"My wife Deborah and I always agreed we'd call it a day when our first child was born and Joshua is already four months old, so there's been an overlap already," he explains.

"There comes a time for everyone to move on and this is definitely the right time for me.

"I scored a hundred last week so at least I'll always know I didn't hang around too long, what ever happens in my hundredth match."