Strauss still content despite innings defeat

The innings-and-74-run margin by which South Africa raced to victory before lunch on day four was a fair summary of their domination. Strauss must therefore come to terms with a 1-1 series outcome, and the fact that England despite their brave draws at Centurion and Newlands, and landslide second-Test victory in Durban did themselves scant justice in Johannesburg.

The match began with Strauss' wicket first ball and featured a century for his opposite number, Graeme Smith, and 14 wickets for South Africa fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel.

Yet perhaps the most memorable, and uncomfortable, factor was England's discontent with the decision review system (DRS), and specifically third umpire Daryl Harper's decision to reprieve Smith, on just 15 of his eventual 105.

Strauss is adamant, however, no frayed tempers played any part in England's insipid performance.

"It's been three and a half really frustrating days for us," he said.

"When you lose four wickets in the first hour of a Test, it is always going to be hard to drag it back. South Africa never let us back in the game. They kept the pressure on us, then were able to get through the tricky new-ball spells and build a sizeable lead.

"Steyn and Morkel were excellent, and we were below par."

Strauss had been at pains before the match to acknowledge England were here to win the series, not draw it. Afterwards, he said: "That's a disappointing end to the tour. But you don't want to lose sight of the fact it's been a very successful tour, and I think we've made some improvements over the course of the 10 weeks. We've shown a lot of resilience and character, which is probably the most important asset to have as a side."

DRS may have dominated many discussions off the field, but on it Strauss believes the distractions were minimal.

"The review system generally in this series has worked pretty well," he said. "I think we've got more decisions right as a result of it, but we haven't got every decision right.

"We're far more frustrated by the way we played than anything that went on with the review system in this game. When we needed things to go our way, they didn't – which is often the case. When you're behind and clutching at straws, it often doesn't happen the way you want it to. We need to take this loss on the chin and accept it for what it was – which is not a very good performance on our part, and a very good one from South Africa."

Strauss does not subscribe to the view either that England's draining experiences to close out last-ditch draws in the first and third Tests left them with little left to give.

"We were up for one last effort, but we never got started," he said. "From ball one, we were behind.

On wickets like that, you need to get through that new ball and we weren't able to do that in either innings.

But I said at the start of the tour, in pure cricketing terms, this would be a harder series to win than the Ashes. So to draw it 1-1 is a pretty notable achievement after winning the one-day series as well. It's been a great tour to be on. The players have applied themselves exceptionally well; the work ethic has been good; it's been fun and we've got a lot of good memories to go home with.

"It's not all doom and gloom, but we certainly would have liked to finish the tour better than we did."

Smith's emotions, inevitably, were very different after his team had finally managed to convert a winning position.

"We could easily be sat here 3-1 up," he said. "We lacked knockout blows in Centurion and Cape Town; England showed great resilience throughout the series and played well at Durban. But we really dominated this game and came out deserved winners. I'm really proud of the way the guys performed. It could have been easy for us to run out of puff after giving so much in Cape Town, but we bounced back and each guy was hungry to perform well."

Smith disagreed with Strauss about the effect on the tourists of their DRS disenchantment.

"It's something that has made us happy," he said. "We feel that England spent so much time and energy on that stuff that it really allowed us to focus on our cricket. To see them really lose focus on what was important gave us more confidence through the game."

SCOREBOARD

South Africa v England Johannesburg

South Africa beat England by an innings and 74 runs

England Second Innings

AJ Strauss lbw b Parnell 22

AN Cook c Smith b M Morkel 1

IJL Trott c de Villiers b Steyn 8

KP Pietersen c Boucher b Parnell 12

PD Collingwood c M Morkel b Duminy 71

IR Bell c Kallis b M Morkel 5

MJ Prior c Smith b M Morkel 0

SCJ Broad c Boucher b M Morkel 1

GP Swann c de Villiers b Steyn 20

RJ Sidebottom b Duminy 15

JM Anderson not out 1

Extras lb6 w1 nb6 13

Total (42.5 overs) 169

Fall: 1-6 2-21 3-48 4-84 5-103 6-103 7-104 8-134 9-154

Bowling: Steyn 14 1 64 2 M Morkel 16 5 59 4 Parnell 8 1 17 2 McLaren 3 1 13 0 Duminy 1.5 0 10 2

Collingwood and Swann the class acts in the squad

ANDREW STRAUSS

Calmly effective and impressive in his captaincy role, and his insistence on the importance of team spirit is convincing. But one half-century in seven innings means he is no longer in outstanding batting form. 7

ALASTAIR COOK

After two false starts at Centurion, responded with a hard-working hundred to help lay the basis for England's innings victory at Durban. 7

JONATHAN TROTT

First-Test consolidation after his Ashes-clinching Oval debut. But by the final Test, Trott looked out of his depth in two fretful innings at The Wanderers – against some world-class fast bowling on a helpful surface. 5

KEVIN PIETERSEN

Hinted at Centurion that he was returning to his world-beating best form, before his calamitous second-innings run-out. Managed only 25 runs in his last four attempts. 5

PAUL COLLINGWOOD

England's top runscorer of the series. His defiance at Newlands was a world away from the power-hitting he has discovered in one-day cricket. But after 57 Tests, Collingwood is more secure than he has ever been. 9

IAN BELL

Helped Collingwood save the third Test, and his 140 at Durban "broke" South Africa. Bell has one of the best techniques in world cricket, and England have a right to expect him to start delivering big runs consistently after the investment of 53 Tests so far. 8

MATT PRIOR

England keeper's glove work has improved beyond recognition. But his batting has stuttered, despite two half-centuries. 7

STUART BROAD

No proof of anything untoward in stopping a straight drive with the sole of his boot in the ball-tampering controversy of Cape Town. Simple principles seem to be helping Broad's bowling, and his batting retains potential. 7

GRAEME SWANN

Exceeded expectations again, with 21 wickets in a country not supposed to favour off-spinners. His uninhibited shot-making down the order, generally safe slip catching and effervescent good humour are three more important assets. Has become a certain selection, unless rested. 9

JAMES ANDERSON

Shoulders the responsibility of senior bowler, although not always convincingly. Anderson remains England's most likely new-ball wicket-taker, after a consistent series. 7

GRAHAM ONIONS

England apparently thought he was the weariest of their bowlers, and therefore surprisingly dropped him at The Wanderers. Emotionally, it seemed a harsh decision and scant reward for Onions' match-saving heroics twice over with the bat at number 11. South Africa insist the Durham seamer tested them most through the series. 8

RYAN SIDEBOTTOM

Did not vindicate the selectors' brave call to bring him in at The Wanderers for his first Test in almost ten months. He didn't let England down badly, though, and could have had Smith caught behind long before he got set for his first-innings hundred. 6