There could hardly have been a greater contrast with the next time that England's players take to the field, as they leave behind the grey skies of Cardiff and look forward to the glitz and gaudiness of the Stanford Super Series in Antigua next month.

Hopes of a 5-0 clean sweep were washed away by squally showers yesterday, bringing England's international season to a soggy anticlimax and South Africa's tour to a low-key end.

Perhaps this is why Cardiff has been awarded the first Test of the Ashes series next summer, scheduled for early July, rather than a game in the series in late August.

So the breakneck pace of rejuvenation under Kevin Pietersen has finally been brought to a temporary halt. England are ranked as the third-best one-day side in the world, just behind South Africa, whereas another victory yesterday would have taken them into second. “We can't control the rain, but to win 4-0, we'd have taken that two weeks ago,” Pietersen said.

Even in the three overs that were possible yesterday, England could claim the bragging rights. Stuart Broad, in his only over, had Herschelle Gibbs caught behind, stretching outside his off stump to drive, only to get a thick edge that was brilliantly caught one-handed by Matt Prior, diving to his right in front of first slip. It has been that sort of series.

Before they host the first Ashes Test next year, Glamorgan are to invest £600,000 in a new drainage system, but that was obviously too late to save yesterday's game for a crowd of around 14,000.

At the post-match press conference, Pietersen was demob happy, his baseball cap turned backwards and looking forward to his holidays, but still he gave an insight into the high standards that he has set since he became captain a month ago today. “All the guys are hungry for success, but there are a lot of players who know that they've settled for a comfort zone in certain areas,” Pietersen said. “I don't live with any comfort zones, I don't settle for mediocrity, I want guys to perform. There's no point in living if you don't want to become the best person you can possibly be.”

In one-day cricket, South Africa are suffering because of the number of players that they have lost on Kolpak contracts to English counties. “It negates our depth and pulls the standard down in domestic cricket,” Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, said. “There are one or two that we would like to get back.”

Whereas South Africa have lost a number of the all-rounders that made them such a potent one-day side - the likes of Shaun Pollock, Nicky Boje, Justin Kemp and Andrew Hall have all appeared as Kolpak players this summer - England suddenly have an abundance of multifaceted players in the lower middle order. So much so that Luke Wright has been a luxury item in this series, playing every game but facing only 15 balls with the bat and not being called on to bowl. As Arthur said: “At times during this series, it's seemed as though we have had ten men while England have been playing with twelve.”

The main reason why England have suddenly acquired such depth has been Andrew Flintoff's re-emergence as a genuine all-rounder, worth his place in the side as both a frontline batsman and bowler. Unsurprisingly, given that he scored more runs (178, for only once out) and took more wickets (ten at an average of 12.9) than anyone else on either side, Flintoff was named Man of the Series. And this in his first one-day international cricket for a year. “Kevin's a confident lad and that's rubbed off on the rest of us,” Flintoff said. “He's demanded a lot of his players and everybody has responded well.” None more so than his talismanic all-rounder.

Scoreboard

South Africa
H H Gibbs c Prior b Broad 3
H M Amla not out 3
*J H Kallis not out 0
Extras 0
Total (1 wkt, 3 overs) 6

A.B. de Villiers, J-P Duminy, J L Ontong, M V Boucher, J Botha, M Morkel, D W Steyn and A Nel did not bat.

Fall of wicket: 1-3.

Bowling: Anderson 2-0-6-0; Broad 1-1-0-1.

England: I R Bell, M J Prior, O A Shah, *K P Pietersen, A Flintoff, P D Collingwood, S R Patel, L J Wright, S C J Broad, S J Harmison, J M Anderson.

Umpires: N J Llong and S J A Taufel (Australia).