It’s been several days since England cricket finished the Test portion of its South Africa tour, and when one solely looks at the results, the visitors had a successful Test series. Not only did the Lions win the series 2-1, but South Africa faced the humiliation of losing the #1 Test ranking on their own soil, exactly what England endured when they last hosted South Africa. That the Proteas avoided further disaster by winning the fourth Test will provide some consolation, but how much going forward?

First, a word on the importance of this cricket rivalry, as these teams have much in common when it comes to cricket. They compete for the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy, named after the legendary English cricketer born in South Africa. He was originally in the England squad when they were scheduled to tour the Rainbow Nation in the late 1960s, but the tour was scrapped because of the controversy surrounding South Africa’s refusal to play; D’Oliveira was viewed as “coloured” in the apartheid system. Many other prominent English cricketers have come from South Africa, including Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen.

As for the Test series that just concluded, England seemed to be well in control throughout each of the first three Tests, even with Dale Steyn bowling well on the first day of the series. South Africa had bright spots from Dean Elgar, Temba Bavuma, and Kagiso Rabada, among others, but the visitors are worthy series winners. Now the problem is how to close out series in style.

This has been a problem for England in recent Test series. After reclaiming the Ashes against Australia with one match to spare, the hosts chose to send many of their first team, hoping to finish the series with a 4-1 win. However, Australia played with emotion as it was the final Test for captain Michael Clarke. In South Africa, the Proteas also played with desire – and perhaps desperation – to avoid a 3-0 series loss, and that played a part in England’s tame second innings of 101 at Centurion.

Next up in the tour is the ODI series, the first match set for Bloemfontein on Wednesday. The Englishmen who are playing in both the Tests and ODIs know the work ahead of them in terms of repairing their reputations, and will embrace the opportunity to get another series win on the road. As for those who only play Tests nowadays (Alastair Cook, James Anderson, for example), they’ll have to wait four months before Sri Lanka comes to England. It will be interesting to see if they can learn what’s pivotal to closing out a Test series.