Never say die

Majestic. Few could have imagined that Smith could live up to the sensation he caused on his maiden tour of England, but he did just that with a pair of performances that epitomised his never-say-die leadership. His second-innings century at Lord's stymied any prospect of a South African surrender, but it was his incredible unbeaten 154 at Edgbaston that carried his game to new and rarified levels. Vaughan could no longer breathe at such altitude, and nor could many of his colleagues. So long as Smith remained at the helm, a history-making victory was assured.

Overshadowed by his captain and opening partner, but quietly competent in everything that he did. He batted for a total of 11-and-a-half hours at Lord's to reassure his team-mates that survival was within their grasp, while his 72 at Edgbaston - though not chanceless - was the first vital step towards the series-clinching victory. After his three-year exile from the South African set-up, he has been welcomed back with open arms.

From first Test to last, England targeted his perceived weakness against the short ball, but they were up against a much doughtier competitor than the one they had seen off in two Tests during the 2004-05 series. Amla played a peripheral role during the two victories, but his final-day century at Lord's helped transform the momentum of the series, while his 76 at The Oval launched a point-proving fightback. A live-wire in the field, and an important cog in a top-order that outscored their English counterparts by seven centuries to four.

His batting fragility was a mystery to all, not least the man himself, who has not endured such a lean series since his maiden tour of Australia 11 years ago. Good deliveries hunted him down (not least a pair of yorkers from Sidebottom at Lord's and Flintoff at Edgbaston) and instead he earned his tour bonus with the quality of his swing bowling. Invariably uphill, into the wind, and devoid of glamour, he was nonetheless the only bowler in the series to average less than 30. What is more, his ten wickets for the series included Pietersen at crucial moments of both South Africa's victories, and only one genuine tailender (James Anderson at Edgbaston).

His first-innings hundred at Lord's was arguably the most valuable and overlooked of South Africa's batting performances. While his team-mates were tumbling all around him, Prince stood tall and counterattacked with élan to score 101 out of 247 - a performance that settled the tourists' nerves, and dispelled any doubts they might have had about the surface. Prince declared after that innings he felt he'd let his team down by getting out so soon after reaching three figures, but in the next Test at Headingley he made no such mistake - a crushingly efficient 149 that made England pay dearly for rolling over inside two sessions on the first day.

Booed for claiming a spurious catch at Headingley, but de Villiers soon won the crowds round with the ambition and expanse of his strokeplay. A magnificent 174 embedded South Africa's dominance in the second Test, while his selfless 97 at The Oval briefly threatened a twist to Pietersen's coronation fixture. Though he has often played as an opener, his fluster-free approach to batting with the tail makes him the ideal man to have coming in at No. 6

Only one innings of note, but it could not have been more crucial. As a veteran of the 1998 and 2003 contests, Boucher knew precisely what was at stake on the fourth evening at Edgbaston, as he joined his captain with South Africa still 110 runs shy of their unlikely target of 281. First he endured, then he cut loose as England's bowlers started to panic, as a decade of heartache was packed into 85 balls of bloody-minded determination.

Steve Harmison would recognise the symptoms, and sympathise with the plight. Morkel is a tall and genuinely quick fast bowler whose greatest asset is his vicious bounce from a good length. His greatest failing, in this series at least, was a wonky radar. Especially culpable during England's second-innings fightback at Edgbaston, and badly out of sorts in the Lord's Test as well, he nonetheless finished as South Africa's leading wicket-taker, which is a testament to his effectiveness on the occasions he did get it right. However, he is only 23, and a long and hostile career awaits him, for he will be stronger for the experience of this tour.

An ordinary bowler who never threatened to run through any innings at any stage of any match, Harris does not look like the answer to South Africa's spin-bowling prayers - not least because his action is too round-arm to make full use of his height. All the same, he was probing in an Ashley Giles-esque fashion, and collected useful wickets at regular intervals, often through batsman indiscretion - the Pietersen and Flintoff double-whammy at Edgbaston was the undoubted highlight. His brave tail-end batting was an added bonus.

Disappointingly ruled out of the final two Tests with a thumb injury, at precisely the moment he was starting to live up to his billing as the No. 1 paceman in the world. Michael Vaughan's troubles were triggered by his slippery, full-swinging length, but his seven-wicket haul at Headingley was merely a taster of the damage he was expecting to inflict on England's batsmen.

He may have been the only man to pick up five wickets in an innings all series, but Ntini was a shadow of the bowler who bounced England to oblivion at Lord's on the 2003 tour. He entered the series looking woefully short of match fitness, although he did improve as the tour went on, not least when he was encouraged to go back to bowling from wide of the crease. For a brief session at Edgbaston it was just like watching old times, as Cook and Bell both flapped angled bouncers to the keeper, but the days must surely be numbered for one of South Africa's finest warriors.

"Gunther" enjoyed his rare outings on this trip - his first Tests since January after Steyn's injury created an opening. Three key wickets on the first day at Edgbaston represented the pinnacle of his efforts, but thereafter he grinned and gurned with pantomime villainy, and diminishing returns.