Hope regained as South Africa fall on their feet

In the same way that we wonder whether a tree that falls in a forest devoid of people makes a sound, we question whether a match won in a series already lost really counts a victory. South Africa will tell you that it does.

Centurion was a catharsis for them because it showed that, contrary to AB de Villiers' thoughts after the Wanderers Test, all hope is not gone. That is not to be confused with the opposite: all hope has not been regained.

South Africa won the match against a team who had already secured the only tangible thing there was to play for and at times lacked intensity as a result. Who knows how differently England's attack would have approached their task on the first day. Who knows how much more value England would have placed on their wickets if there had been two more Tests, or how much care they would have taken with their catching.

Because we don't know, we have to credit South Africa for picking themselves off the floor and putting on a performance they can be proud of. If nothing else, that says they have made some progress.

In the personnel department, they have certainly made progress, after a merry-go-round series in which their squad swelled to 17. In that mix were six fast bowlers, three wicketkeepers, two captains, a bowler who bats, a batsman who bowls and, only for the last match, a second specialist opening batsman.

The addition of Stephen Cook brought immediate stability not just because South Africa's top two had struggled up until then. Cook added experience - he has played 15 years in the first-class set-up - and assurance. Every shot Cook played was the stroke of a man in form. As a result, he has, in the words of Russell Domingo "secured the opening berth" for the immediate future.

South Africa's next Tests don't come for six months but keeping Cook around beyond that will ensure South Africa have a solid top two for tours to Australia and England. It will also give Stiaan van Zyl the chance to develop into an opening batsman, assuming that is what he wants.

At one-drop, South Africa have their No.3 back. Hashim Amla's stepping-down as captain freed him up to be a batsman and it showed. With the decision made at Newlands, he scored a match-saving double-hundred. His innings at Centurion showed the Amla of old - the smooth drives, the wristy flicks, the mind that will not be hurt by a sore thumb - all that was there.

But then we get to de Villiers and that's where the problems start. South Africa's new Test captain could be a former Test captain come August, by which time the selectors will have decided on a permanent skipper. No-one really knows if de Villiers wants the job, not even de Villiers himself.

His series started with a story that he was considering early retirement, which he denied by saying all he wanted was a lighter workload. That came in the same match in which he was asked to keep wicket. So, for the next Test, de Villiers handed the gloves over but by the third one, he accepted the leadership. In essence, de Villiers wants to captain, but not keep, but he does not know how long he wants to do that for.

His indecision will become South Africa's irritation, as it did when Jacques Kallis neared the end and veered between being unavailable for bilateral ODIs to quitting Test cricket to focus on ODIs ahead of the 2015 World Cup, but he retired before the tournament. De Villiers is facing similar conundrums. His mixed messages are creating confusion and until South Africa obtain clarity on his situation, they will continue to face a conundrum.

One of the reasons they're allowing him this yo-yo period is because he is the best batsman in the world. Another is that he is one of very few senior players left and will be one of even fewer judging by how Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy are performing. They were both dropped in this series after lean patches that could no longer be tolerated. "No-one is sure of a place in the side," de Villiers said afterwards. Now, du Plessis and Duminy know.

They also know they are replaceable. Temba Bavuma has shown promise that has given South Africa a reason to look forward to the future. His groundbreaking century at Newlands and his gutsy innings at Centurion are the foundations of a career. Now he has to go and build the house.

Like Kagiso Rabada, every brick Bavuma lays down is not just for himself. As the first black African batsman to play for the country, he is representing a huge majority and he knows it. "I know when I walk onto the field, it's not just me walking onto the field," he said. On the day of his century, the KFC kids from the township he was born in, Langa, were chanting his name and telling journalists how they wanted to be batsmen. Bavuma will inspire many more.

Rabada will inspire them differently. At 20 years old, he is already a record-breaker. He has taken the most number of wickets by a South African in a Test, a figure he holds jointly with Makhaya Ntini and Hugh Tayfield. When Rabada took the 13th, Ntini was on his feet, passing on his baton.

Dale Steyn was in his lounge, passing on another baton. Rabada will become the new spearhead of the South African attack which may allow Steyn, when he regains fitness, to take on more of a Shaun Pollock-like role. Cut down on the extremes, focus on the accuracies and maybe South Africa will still get more of Steyn too.

They need to, because the rest of the attack is as unsettled as the batting line-up. Morne Morkel has proved himself a workhorse and the best supporting actor South Africa could ask for. He has remained more injury-free than Steyn but it may not be that way forever. He is 31, which means in the next few years, South Africa will need someone to take over his role.

At the moment none of Kyle Abbott, Chris Morris or Hardus Viljoen inspire that confidence. Abbott has not been the same since the World Cup, when he was left out of the semi-final XI in favour of Vernon Philander, Morris looked a better batsman than a bowler and, after Viljoen's wicket off the first ball, he faded. South Africa still have to look for others.

The search has not been made easy by the growing gap between franchise cricket and the international stage. Its causes have been put down to everything from the increased quotas which have affected franchise squads' balances to the search for coaching expertise in an era of the declining Rand. Those complications will eventually flow upstream and affect the national side.

The Centurion win cannot change any of that. It has given South Africa some reassurance, some reasons to smile, some relief. It has given the team its tree that fell in the forest, but it cannot guarantee how many people heard the noise.