South Arica lost the home Test series against Australia by 2-1, but more importantly they lost their greatest ever captain, Graeme Smith, who announced retirement from international cricket midway through the third Test.
Over an 11-year glorious tenure, Graeme Smith proved himself not only a quality batsman but also the most successful South African captain.
Smith scored 9265 runs in his 117 Test matches. He made 27 centuries and 38 fifties and averaged 48.25.
He scored 6989 runs in 197 One-day Internationals (ODIs), hitting 10 hundreds and 47 half-centuries, averaging 37.98.
Smith made his Test debut in March 2002 against Australia in Cape Town at the age of 21 and, batting on number 3, scored 68. South Africa lost that Test by four wickets.
In October the same year, he opened the innings and scored his first double hundred, against Bangladesh at East London.
In January next year, against Pakistan in Durban, he and Herschelle Gibbs scored 368 runs for the first wicket.
Only one year old in international cricket, Smith was appointed captain in March 2003. Since he was only 22, he became the youngest captain for his country.
Having played only eight Tests and 22 ODIs, Smith replaced former skipper Shaun Pollock. He was handed over a demoralised side after a shameful defeat in the 2003 World Cup, in which the Proteas failed to qualify for the Super Six stage on their home ground.
The decision was widely criticised, but the South African cricket board showed its confidence in him and the young Smith proved the decision right by always leading from the front.
In around 10 years, Smith led his side to 53 victories in 109 Tests, with a win percentage of 48.62.
No other player has captained in 100 Tests. Former Australian captain Allan Border is a distant second in this list with 93 Test as captain. Stephen Fleming led New Zealand in 80 Tests.
Smith remains the most successful captain in away series alongside great Clive Lloyd, with 23 Test wins in series played abroad. He led South Africa in 20 overseas series, won 10 and lost just four: against Pakistan in 2003, against Sri Lanka and India in 2004 and against Australia in 2005-06.
At home, Smith won 30 out of 53 Tests, also a record. His nearest competitor was Ricky Ponting who won 29 out of 39.
Smith also has the record of most Test runs (8659) and centuries (25) as captain. Pointing scored 6542 runs and 19 hundreds as skipper.
His first ODI as captain was against India in Dhaka, which the Proteas lost by a huge margin of 153.
But in his first Test as skipper, South Africa flattened Bangladesh by an innings and 60 runs.
In his first major assignment, against England, the touring South Africa levelled the series 2-2 in 2003. Smith scored 714 runs in five matches at an average of 79.33, including two double hundreds.
In February 2008, Smith shared a world-record opening partnership of 415 with Neil McKenzie, against Bangladesh at Chittagong.
In July 2008, under his leadership, South Africa secured the first series victory in England since 1965.
Also, he led South Africa to Test and ODI series victories over Australia in Australia in 2008. Surprisingly, South Africa never beat Australia in home series under his leadership.
He took South Africa to No 1 Test position in the ICC rankings. They are currently the top-ranked team in Test cricket.
In 2007 the South Africans also snatched the ICC top ODI ranking from Australia.
Smith also has the distinction of having been involved in four opening partnerships of over 300 runs. In three of these, his partner was Herschelle Gibbs.