Graeme Smith's triple celebration at the Wanderers today is in no danger of being overshadowed by the start of the Test series between South Africa and Pakistan.
Days don't get bigger than this for anyone, even a Proteas captain. Smith turns 32 today, and he announced this week that his wife, Morgan Deane, is expecting their second child. He will also become the first player in history to lead a team in a Test for the 100th time.
A slew of marketing madness has been created to mark a moment deemed important enough to merit Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula's presence at Smith's regular captain's press conference yesterday.
"He has displayed the spirit of no surrender," Mbalula said. "If at every moment when people shouted him down he gave up, there would be no Graeme Smith today.
"[He] represents what I call a paragon of human perfection."
Who could blame Smith if the challenge of keeping his mind on the game loomed larger than ever.
"It's not going to be easy," Smith admitted. "I had a little taste of it with my 100th Test at the Oval in England and I was able to be successful there [scoring 131].
"But the advantage was that I was in a foreign country and I was able to create a little bit of space. Being in SA, the outpouring of emotion and love wherever I've gone has been incredible."
Would the fuss distract his team?
"There's a good maturity in the group now," Smith said. "The team have had a lot of success of late, and the guys want to make this a successful five days. You can feel that energy off the players."
The visitors have their own distractions, what with Taufeeq Umar, who has opened the batting in their past 18 Tests - of which Pakistan have lost just two - on his way home with a stress fracture of the shin.
He could be replaced by the uncapped Nasir Jamshed, who scored two centuries in five innings in Pakistan's recent one-day series against India.
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