South Africa batsman Gary Kirsten has confirmed he will retire from Test cricket after the current tour of New Zealand.

The 36-year-old is South Africa's most prolific Test batsman with 7,210 runs, placing him third behind India's Sachin Tendulkar and West Indian Brian Lara among current players.

In a statement issued by a South African team spokesman from New Zealand, Kirsten, who had originally planned to quit Tests last year, said his retirement was overdue.

"My wife, Deborah, and I had made a decision that when our first child arrived I would retire, but with Joshua now nearly four months old it has overlapped a little," Kirsten said.

"I want to wish the side all the very best in the future and hope that they will continue to go from strength to strength.

"I was lucky enough to play with and against some wonderful cricketers and I take many great memories with me."

The second of three Tests on South Africa's current tour, which starts in Auckland on Thursday, will be Kirsten's 100th. The first Test in Hamilton was drawn. The third Test in Wellington starts on March 26.

Tendulkar and Lara are the only two current players to have scored more than the 21 Test centuries Kirsten has to his name.

Left-hander Kirsten made his Test debut in the 1993-94 tour of Australia. He has a Test average of 45.92.

He became the first player to score a century against all nine other Test-playing nations when he made 160 against Bangladesh in East London in 2002.

South Africa's United Cricket Board (UCB) said it hoped to use Kirsten's experience in a future role within South African cricket.

"I will be joining the team in New Zealand next week, and I will take this opportunity to discuss with Gary how best South African cricket can use his enormous expertise for the good of the game in the future," UCB chief executive Gerald Majola said.

"Statistics do not tell the whole story, as they cannot record the manner in which he achieved these feats with sheer guts and an absolute determination to give of his best."