Heartache tonight (and every night)
Our correspondent follows two South African teams about on the disappointing final legs of their respective tours

The Bridgewater Canal in Manchester: stroll, run or simply contemplate life along its banks • Firdose Moonda/ESPNcricinfo Ltd
The early finish at the Trent Bridge Test has allowed me the chance to cover the South African women in their semi-final against England in Bristol. I will have to make a six-hour round-trip, but it's a mission I am keen on. The women's team have impressed and I sense something special is on the horizon.
I've travelled back to London to await the winner of the India-Australia match, who will play England in the final. We've had news that the match is a sellout, making it the biggest event in women's cricket to date. Australia are the favourites, but I'm quietly pleased when India stun them, because having the game's financial powerhouse in the final should change the face of the women's game.
If you're a lover of books and movies, the Travel Book Company from the film Notting Hill is a must-see. In reality, it's called the Notting Hill Bookshop. I get around to visiting it today, and it is everything the movie made it out to be.
The big day has arrived. A completely different Lord's to the one I have encountered on my previous visits greets me, with a relaxed vibe and a family feel, as the Women's World Cup final gets underway. I am covering it with colleagues Melinda Farrell and Jarrod Kimber. We decide beforehand that I will write on England, Jarrod will do India, and Melinda will write a colour story. For most of the match, it looks as though I will be writing about the losing side. Then Anya Shrubsole leads the mother of all comebacks and I have a fairy tale to tell.
So much cricket has been played already but we're only halfway through the Test series and it's set for a cracker second half. The teams are locked at one-all but any momentum South Africa could gain from their Nottingham victory was halted by the break. In that time, JP Duminy has returned home, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock also popped back for quick visits, and other members of the squad took the week off to explore parts of the UK. Assistant coach Adrian Birrell, who is a cattle farmer back home, went to Northamptonshire to learn about their cows. Everyone is back in camp today, though, getting an extra training session in than England, who will only regroup tomorrow.
Rain has hung around The Oval for the two days leading up to the Test and it has its say on the first day. Only 59 overs are possible and England are 171 for 4, which seems neither here nor there, but the inside track from the South Africa camp is that they are worried. Not only do they think batting will become much harder but Vernon Philander, who can best exploit these conditions, is struggling with a stomach bug and has been on and off the field all day.
Philander's condition worsens to the point where he is taken to hospital; South Africa's worsens to the point where they need him to bat. At 61 for 7, after conceding 353, they are starring at some embarrassing milestones but gutsy Temba Bavuma saves some blushes.
A night on a drip doesn't stop Philander from coming out to bat, but it is soon clear which way this match is heading. At least I have a personalised pot of tea to enjoy while I watch the chaos. Yorkshire Tea have made all the media their own packs, though I don't think Moonda's Tea has a ring to it.
After the inevitable happens, I head to Hammersmith, to see my London colleagues one last time on this trip. We have plenty to talk about, because ten days ago ESPNcricinfo has had a facelift. There are some issues that are being sorted out, but by and large the changes are positive and we're excited about what it means for the way we work.
The last stop on the trip is Manchester, and it's also the furthest north I will be going. I'm particularly looking forward to the red brick and the contrast between industrial-era and new-age architecture. One of my first sights is the Midland Hotel, where Rolls and Royce met to form… you guessed it.
I'm closing in on 250 miles on foot this trip, and this morning's run starts on the Bridgewater Canal. The first few hundred metres are over cobblestone and I have to be careful not to do an ankle. Then I go past Old Trafford. Not the cricket one. I expect to feel something as I see the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand - awe, admiration, maybe a bit of irritability because I am kind-of a Manchester City fan - but it looks like just another football ground to me. Plenty in the South African team disagree. Tomorrow they're set for a stadium tour, where Russell Domingo will really get to feel what its like being David Moyes - in all sorts of ways. Domingo succeeded Gary Kirsten four years ago, a month after Moyes took over from Ferguson, and the Old Trafford Test is set to be his last.
The youngest member of the South African touring party is out and about today: Faf du Plessis' month-old daughter Amalie, who is with her mother, Imari, in a coffee shop on Deansgate.
Philander and Chris Morris are ruled out of the final Test with back problems. South Africa are forced to field two inexperienced players, Theunis de Bruyn and Duanne Olivier, and behind the scenes, Graeme Smith fires shots at Philander's lack of fitness, accusing him of not paying enough attention to his conditioning. As if that isn't enough to keep us busy, news breaks that CSA has approached Ottis Gibson to take over from Domingo. It's all kinds of awkward to think that Domingo might have been in the change room across from his successor's for the last six weeks. The ECB denies it has had an offer, but all indications are that the deal is done.
A finely poised match swings England's way in the morning session when they pile on 100 runs and South Africa wilt. James Anderson seems to like bowling from the James Anderson End and South Africa are 220 for 9 overnight. Though it's not even day three, its time to turn attention to the post-mortems, which will focus on South Africa's batting. They don't seem to have many answers and have picked discarded opener Stephen Cook in the A side to play against India later in the month. Aiden Markram will captain the team, with David Miller batting at No. 4.
South Africa lose the series 3-1. And so, three months on the road ends. They return home with nothing, not even a coach. Domingo manages a smile when he speaks to the media in what he jokes is the "departure lounge", a stairwell at the ground. He is candid about the challenges the country's cricket faces going forward.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent