By Paul Grunill BBC Sport Online

As Gary Kirsten marched to the middle against Bangladesh in East London, one could sense that a big score was on the cards.

Starved of recent international action after being dropped from South Africa's one-day side, he was not about to waste an opportunity against Test cricket's friendliest attack.

It mattered not that he was in an unfamiliar number three role, having lost his place at the top of the order to Graeme Smith.

And sure enough, by close of play, he had become the first player to make a Test hundred against nine different teams.

The facts do not lie: Kirsten is the best South African batsman of all time - at least in terms of the number of Test hundreds and total runs scored.

No doubt his tally of 15 centuries - two of them doubles - and almost 5,800 runs would have been surpassed had the likes of Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock not been affected by the country's 21-year sporting exile.

Indeed, Kirsten himself would probably be the first to acknowledge that elder brother Peter, whose sole Test hundred in a brief Test career came against England in 1994, was his superior in terms of natural talent.

But Kirsten's value to the modern day South African side should not be underestimated.

His greatest performance came at Durban when he stood firm for 14 and a half hours to make 275 and save the day for his side after they had been forced to follow on.

Only Pakistan's Hanif Mohammed had played a longer innings in a Test.

Method brings results

Mark Nicholas, writing at the time in the Daily Telegraph, said: "Kirsten is unglamorous, unattractive as a sportsman, you might say, so is not beloved.