Shaun Pollock: South Africa player ratings following Test series defeat to England

South Africa's disappointing tour of England ended with a 3-1 Test series defeat to go with losing efforts in the ODI and T20 series' too.

There were some bright sparks for the tourists though - notably their second Test triumph at Trent Bridge - and Shaun Pollock highlights the top performers for the Proteas, while also picking out players that have struggled.

Read on for Shaun's South Africa ratings...

Dean Elgar - 8
291 runs @ 36.37, two fifties, one hundred

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I think he played well, he got that big hundred at The Oval and another fifty as well. He made a good contribution at Trent Bridge in difficult conditions against two class players.

Heino Kuhn - 4
113 runs @ 14.12

It was a struggle for him. There was only one real contribution and that was in the Trent Bridge game where he managed to bat for a period of time and blunt the attack which meant that South Africa were able to go on to win that game.

Hashim Amla - 8
329 runs @ 41.12, three fifties

Hashim was good. He's a class player for South Africa and with the high standards he sets himself he would always want to get more runs on the board and make some hundreds.

Temba Bavuma - 8
257 runs @ 32.12, two fifties

He was impressive, he was probably as solid as any of the batsmen on the tour. He got himself in on countless occasions. I think every time he got to the crease he got over 20. He'll be disappointed not to go and get a big score or more fifties after the starts he got.

Faf du Plessis - 7
171 runs @ 28.50, two fifties

He missed the first Test and then came in as captain and had a big impact in that win at Trent Bridge. His captaincy, I thought, was pretty good - it's difficult when you're behind the eight ball.

Quinton de Kock - 7
185 runs @ 23.12, two fifties
19 catches, two stumpings

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They have moved him around the batting order a lot. His wicketkeeping has been superb, apart from the one chance he missed but on a difficult tour when the ball is nipping around, only one mistake is pretty good. From a batting perspective though, he wasn't at his best.

Theunis de Bruyn - 4
60 runs @ 15.00

He has also struggled. He has never really got in in the two games when he has been given an opportunity. He got that 48 at Lord's but that was it.

Keshav Maharaj - 8.5
17 wickets @ 30.35

He's been very, very good. I would probably say with the way he has bowled, with great accuracy, and the wickets he has taken, he deserves an eight - maybe an eight and a half.

Kagiso Rabada - 7.5
16 wickets @ 28.43

Rabada has been good, he has taken a lot of wickets but he hasn't been at his very best. He has set high standards in his short international career so far.

Morne Morkel - 8.5
19 wickets @ 26.36

He was great, he would have loved to have picked up more wickets than he did. He was so unlucky, so many times he went past the outside edge and he adjusted his length. I think it is as well as I've seen him bowl throughout a series and he didn't really get the rewards he was after.

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Duanne Olivier - 6
Seven wickets @ 27.57

After struggling in his first Test match of the tour, he came back nicely at Old Trafford. He bowled a lot of scrambled-seam deliveries and tried to hit a good length. It was a vast improvement from Trent Bridge.

Vernon Philander - 9
10 wickets @ 23.40
177 runs @ 44.25, two fifties

I have to give him a nine, I thought he was superb with both bat and ball. When he wasn't playing it showed how much South Africa miss him. He contributed in every Test match he played, made vital breakthroughs on pitches that assisted him but also got stuck in and got some runs.

The timing of his illness at The Oval was terrible and to lose him from the Old Trafford Test, too, was a major blow.

JP Duminy - 5
17 runs @ 8.50

With all the experience that he possesses South Africa would have expected more from him and he just didn't get going at any stage and ended up going home early. It was a little bit disappointing because he is an experienced campaigner and we've seen from him over the years, and in one-day cricket, what he can do and we were hoping for more.

Chris Morris - 6.5
Eight wickets @ 25.75, 75 runs @ 18.75

Chris produced that one spell at Trent Bridge that was really impressive and he made some decent batting contributions. He wasn't all that great when he got a chance at The Oval though so I'd go six or six and a half.