South Africa put in a tremendous display in the final Test, and as a result retain the Basil D'Oliveira trophy.
But no assessment of any England performance is complete without some player ratings. These are my marks out of 10 for the England XI at the Wanderers.
I found these particularly tough to do. (It's much easier when they play reasonably well). But as ever I'd like to know what you think.
What a difference a year makes (well, a year and a few days, anyway).
On 29 December 2008 at one of the world's most intimidating venues, the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Hashim Amla nudged a couple of runs through the on-side off Michael Clarke to condemn Australia to their first home Test series defeat since 1993.
It must have seemed to some that Graeme Smith's hardy band would go on to dominate world cricket in much the same way those same Australians they had just beaten had done for so long.
A dead-rubber defeat in Sydney was overlooked - but then things started to go sour.
I hope you enjoyed the tension on the final day at Newlands, where England once again repeated something of a recent habit by .
But, to half-steal an Anne Robinson line, who floated my boat and who sank without trace in Cape Town? These are my ratings for the England team. They are, as ever, purely subjective so please don't get too upset if I haven't given someone the same marks you would give them.
On the other hand, don't feel frightened to comment here, and I'll try to get back to as many of you as I can.
It's that time of year again - the time for me to look at the talented young cricketers across the globe and pick six players who I think will make an impact in 2010.
A reminder of the format: as per previous years, I am selecting three young players making their mark on the county scene, one player from each country touring England in the summer (Bangladesh and Pakistan), and a member of the England women's team.
Last year was a typical mix of good picks and not-such-good picks: Mitchell Johnson finished the year as Test cricket's top wicket-taker in 2009 while Laura Marsh was the leading bowler in the World Cup. The other four had quieter years.
Anyway, before I give you the six, three players get honourable mentions.
(the Pakistan batsman) has done everything asked of him so far for his country and is a massive prospect, while it will be fascinating to see how goes on his return to The Oval to lead Surrey after two seasons at Sussex. Leicestershire batsman , meanwhile, had a wonderful 2009 and was voted young cricketer of the year by the Cricket Writers' Club.
Jump to more content from this blog
After the solemn realisation at the age of 12 that I might not be good enough to play cricket for England I decided that the next best thing, writing about cricket, would have to suffice as a career. That's what I've been doing for the 91Èȱ¬ Sport website since 2001, in which time the sport has changed immensely. You can also follow me on .
For the latest updates across 91Èȱ¬ blogs,
visit the Blogs homepage.
You can stay up to date with Oliver Brett via these feeds.
Oliver Brett Feed(RSS)
Oliver Brett Feed(ATOM)
If you aren't sure what RSS is you'll find useful.
Visit the 91Èȱ¬ Sport website
Visit the Cricket index
91Èȱ¬ © 2014 The 91Èȱ¬ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
