Aiden Markram has more hundreds than any other player in South Africa's current Test squad, is their second-highest run-scorer, and has the fourth-most Test caps. But he doesn't dwell on those numbers. Quite the opposite. He has accepted those may be his ceilings as far as records are concerned.
"From an achievements point of view, I've completely parked it. I'm not going to go down as South Africa's best or most successful [batter]. At least, I don't think I will, from a numbers point of view," Markram says.
"I know people are massively stats-driven, and the World Test Championship final was something where even if I am not going to go down as one of the top ten or 20, at least people will remember me for something. One, because we won, and two, because I was able to contribute. Those are the things I play for now."
Markram's perspective is rooted in the reality of where he sits on the all-time lists. He has eight centuries, 37 behind South Africa's leading batter, Jacques Kallis, and 20 fewer than the next candidate, Hashim Amla. Markram's Test run tally sits at 3315 runs, almost 10,000 less than Kallis. Given the relative paucity of Test cricket on the modern calendar, it is unlikely Markram can add enough caps to his 52 to reach 100, or get close to Kallis' 165.
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All that mattered to Markram once, but didn't help him. "I wanted it way too much when I was younger and because of that, I put a lot of pressure on myself."
He may have only wanted it but others expected it, and that added another layer to how he saw himself.
Markram was South Africa's boy wonder - the captain who led them to the Under-19 World Cup title, earned a professional contract soon after, and had a remarkable start to his Test career. His first four Test innings brought 380 runs, including two centuries. But his next 34 innings, till the end of 2020, yielded only another two hundreds. Being tested and stretched in that way led him to change the way he looked at the game.
"I try to take the thoughts about my own game completely out of sight. I really just want to try and win games now. I feel like since I've changed to that mindset, it's helped me. When it doesn't go well, I'm a bit more lenient on myself.
"I've always wanted to win, don't get me wrong, but now it's just winning or losing, nothing else matters. Back in the day, when I was younger, I was reading into things too much and getting carried away with things that didn't really matter. From a contribution point of view, there's been series and big games in the past, across formats, where I would have really liked to stand up for the team. That's pretty much what it comes down to."
All that doesn't mean he goes much easier on himself. "We've done the cool thing of [winning] the WTC, which is something incredibly special for me and all the boys as well. But those little moments along the way, I would have liked to be a bit better."
A series against Australia presents the perfect opportunity, especially as they are an opposition against whom Markram thrives. In seven Tests against them, he averages 56.84, with three hundreds. He hasn't done this well against the other big teams, averaging 20.65 in 12 Tests against India and only 11.6 in three Tests against England.
Why does Australia bring out the best in him? "It's the nature of the opposition. We have the same sort of character and approach. They're similar to us, very competitive, and when you cross the boundary, you get into that same frame of mind. It's not to say it's always going to work, but I feel like when I'm in that frame of mind, I tend to be quite sharp and quite focused. And because of that, from a batting point of view, you feel like your movements are quite good and you react. You don't get distracted by other things. That competitive edge brings out the best in a lot of the players that are involved in it."
With the current Test series between the sides locked at 1-1 heading to Cape Town, all the proof about the ways in which these teams challenge each other is in the scorecards and Markram has already had a part to play. In Durban, with South Africa needing to bat for four sessions to save the Test, he spent nearly six hours scoring 75 and genuinely thought he could draw the game.
"The belief was there. It was always going to be a really tough challenge, but a challenge that felt possible. I felt it the night before, going to bed, that it would make for a great story. Nowadays you don't really get that opportunity to bat out for a draw, so it was actually an exciting challenge."
Markram was the second-last batter to be dismissed in a chastening loss, but he put his hand up, as he did eight years ago when his hundred saved face for South Africa in another Durban defeat to Australia. That match was the start of what became an eventful series in which Australia were caught for ball-tampering. The teams also exchanged unpleasantries on the change-room staircase.
Markram was not involved in any of it but recalls wondering if Test cricket would always be that attritional. "It feels like a very long time ago. I remember in 2018 being extremely wide-eyed and trying to sponge everything. Obviously it was an eventful series and I just remember going to guys and saying, is this what it's always like? How did you guys do it for so long?"
At that stage, he had only played six Tests, but even in that early phase of his career, he was thought of as the real deal. After South Africa rotated through Stephen Cook, Heino Kuhn and Theunis de Bruyn, Markram put his hand up to become the long-term opening partner to Dean Elgar.
"At the time Dean needed to be a proper mentor and guide to me because it was the initial stage of my career. He took me under his wing massively and still to this day we're in touch about the game, about batting and that kind of thing. We're incredibly different people and play the game in a different way, but I have been lucky to have him.
"Now, it's almost about me trying to have that calming effect on the guy on the other side. It's just about trying to guide, or let's call it 'live it', your own authentic way so that if others can learn from it then it can only help the team."
After Elgar, Markram has mainly opened with Tony de Zorzi or Ryan Rickelton and the returns have been fairly similar in each case. He averages 35.53 with de Zorzi and 33.61 with Rickelton, but neither has been confirmed as permanent in the spot. In the second Test against Australia, in Gqeberha, Markram opened with Marques Ackerman, who hadn't ever previously opened in first-class cricket. All three batters have limited international experience, which has placed even more responsibility on Markram, but he doesn't see that as a negative.
"I don't feel we have to baby anyone in the team. There's heaps of quality in the batting line-up. Maybe not as much experience as other teams, but the quality is there. Those guys will shine and come through as time goes on. But from a responsibility point of view, while we're in this phase, I would like to really do well and spend a lot of time at the crease. Words are great, but guys learn a lot better by watching and absorbing."
Does Markram have a preference for who he would like to open with?
"It's nice when you click with someone, and I have with Tony and Ricks, but I'm not too fussed. I don't struggle to get on with people, so I try to make it work as best as possible.
"I try to understand how we can get each other to tick and be switched on in the language you use out in the middle. As long as it's the best move for the team to score more runs than the opposition, I'm all for it."
He may yet end up circling through a few more options as South Africa continue to experiment with what works best for them in a batting line-up that is far from settled. With a limited number of matches, there is also not much room for error and it's the task of head coach Shukri Conrad to ensure he makes the right decisions while also inspiring the squad to buy into his vision.
"He [Conrad] challenges the mental side quite a bit and it's landed very well with the boys. Guys that are in this environment naturally have really good skills. There's a uniqueness to some guys, but still highly skilful. The difference is often about tapping into the belief, the resilience, all those sorts of things, and Shuks has been good in that regard."
Conrad took South Africa through the last WTC cycle and to the trophy and is in a strong position to repeat the feat next June. Markram would love nothing more.
"I believe we can make the final again. A lot was said last year about us making the final and the road to it, so now there's an extra fire and desire to get into the final, because we would have had to do it the extremely hard way. To go to Pakistan and India [in 2025], and with this home summer being huge against some quality opposition, there's a strong will to want to get in that final again, and it's a long way away, but the home [ODI] World Cup [in October-November 2027] is huge as well for us. We want to try to do something special there."
But for Markram, the focus is on the collective and not himself as he looks to be part of South Africa's story, but not as the main character. "There's no better feeling than winning, whether it's a final or just a normal game. That's sort of where I feel like I'm at. I don't have a drive to try and average 45 at the end of my career. If it happens, it's going to happen on the back of this more recent approach. If it doesn't happen, I'm in complete peace with it. I just really hope along the way we can win more trophies, and if you can contribute towards that, then that's incredible."