Wham, bam, thank you ma'am - it's all over for South Africa in Durban and it's time to get the knives out. Here are a handful of 'em at least...

Underestimate At Your Peril
Australia's green pace attack - Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Andrew McDonald - hardly read as good as one that should have been led by Johnson, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Shane Watson. With a host of their rivals' first-stringers sidelined with injury, a severe case of misjudgment befell a Saffer camp blinded by an overly cocksure approach.

Siddle in particular admirably rose from the relative anonymity of state cricket, while Hilfenhaus shed his 'ODIs only' tag with fine aplomb, leaving the South African top-order with plenty of egg to wipe from their face in the wake of a rather cavalier approach to the supposed second-stringers.

Number Two Will Have To Do
It seems the unwelcome 'chokers' label will never leave the Proteas. That historic away win has pretty much been rendered redundant by defeat at the Wanderers and Kingsmead. The pressure of pipping Ricky Ponting's pride atop the ICC Test rankings has taken its toll on Smith's posse.

Agreement aplenty spewed out of the hosts' set-up before the series opener that the number one berth was the last thing on their collective mind. Fat chance. The opportunity to capture the mace has flown out the window and, while their bitter hearts may secretly beg to differ, Mickey Arthur and Smith will be the last to admit that it doesn't matter.

Morkel's Miserable Message
Morne Morkel's string of abject performances - typified by his no-ball problem and excessive amount of 'four balls' - extends much further than his personal failure. A worthy successor to eventual retiree Makhaya Ntini and an able new-ball partner for Dale Steyn is still amiss in the South African attack.

The lanky fast bowler is meant to fill this dual poser, yet continues to steer far from it. While calls for the return of Andre Nel are a tad farfetched, I am not alone in my hope that Albie Morkel will line up at Newlands next week rather than his brother.

2008 Is History
The selectors should have stopped riding on Neil McKenzie's outstanding 12 months prior, straight after the triumph in Oz.

The plighted opener was a severe passenger in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth and the same downtrodden trend has continued in Johannesburg and Durban.

Not To Say 'I Told You So' But... I Told You So
A little under a month ago, with the Proteas parading their triumph Down Under around South Africa and wholeheartedly backing themselves for another victory at home, Ashwell Prince watched in dismay as his stand-in - JP Duminy - cracked the nod for the return series ahead of the seasoned stalwart. It was then that I contested the questionable move and, though I don't profess to be the next Mike Procter, I'll enjoy a good gloat right now.

Failure three times out of four is not what a team requires of their number five batsman and that's exactly what Duminy coughed up. Prince - far more adept on the BMT front than juvenile JP - would have faired so much better against Australia's pace barrage. Instead though, he's plying his dependable trade on the domestic scene while his unworthy successor fluffs it for his nation.