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If my mail is on the money, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis will call it a day after the upcoming Test series against Australia.
The first Test starts on Thursday at Durban, and ends with the fourth at the new Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on April 3.
South Africa have already lost paceman Morne Morkel, who has announced he will retire at the end of the series – but losing the three bats will put a massive hole in South Africa’s batting order.
Between the three of them they’ve played 271 Tests and scored 20,146 runs. That will be impossible to replace statistically and experience-wise in the foreseeable future.
Amla’s won 113 caps and scored 8786 runs, de Villiers 110 Tests for 8338, while du Plessis has played 48 Tests for 3022.
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It’s very rare for three world-class cricketers to call halt on the same day, but it’s happened to Australia twice.
Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh all rode into the Test sunset against Pakistan at the SCG in January 1984.
Between them were 253 Tests, 11,648 runs and 757 dismissals.
Chappell’s 7110 runs included a century on debut with 108 against England at the WACA in 1970, and ended with 182 against Pakistan in 1984.
Only three other Test batsmen in history have started, and ended, their careers with Test tons.
Another Australian, Reggie Duff, made 104 on debut against England at the MCG in 1902, and finished with 146 against England at The Oval in 1905.
A third Australian Bill Ponsford started with 110 against England at the SCG in 1924, and ended with 266 against England at The Oval in 1934.
The last to achieve the feat is India’s Mohammad Azharuddin with 110 against England at Kolkata in 1984, and 102 against South Africa at Bengaluru in 2000.
On a different tack, the careers of Lillee and Marsh are extraordinary.
Both Western Australians, they debuted and retired on the same days, and both claimed 355 dismissals – Lillee’s were all wickets, Marsh a combination of catchings and stumpings – both world records at the time.
Of Marsh’s dismissals, 95 were caught Marsh bowled Lillee – another record in itself.
The other triple retirement was Australia losing Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, and Justin Langer against England in 2007, also at the SCG.
Between them they had 374 Tests, 11,491 runs and 1271 wickets.
McGrath retired as the world’s most successful fast bower with 563 wickets, Warne as the most successful leggie with 708.
Langer was the top run-getter of the three with 7696, Warne contributed 3154, while McGrath made the most of his number 11 status with 641.
In 1984 and 2007 the SCG crowds stayed on in droves to salute their heroes with both days turning out to be emotionally charged.
And it will be the same in Johannesburg if de Villiers, Amla and du Plessis call halt – and deservedly so.
All nine have served their countries with pride and passion.