GRAEME SWANN admitted England “didn’t turn up” as they were hammered by an innings and 74 runs in the fourth Test yesterday and were denied a series victory over South Africa.

The tourists were bowled out for 180 and 169 as South Africa romped to victory in Johannesburg to level the series at 1-1.

And Swann admitted in the post-match awards ceremony: “There’s a bit of a sour taste in all our mouths because we’ve been thoroughly outplayed.

“Coming into this last game we had high hopes of winning this series but as it turned out we didn’t turn up for five days and we got hammered.”

The Nottinghamshire off-spinner shared the man of the series award with Proteas wicketkeeper Mark Boucher after taking 21 wickets and scoring 171 runs.

“It’s been nice for me,” he said. “I didn’t expect to do as much bowling coming out here, I expected the wickets to be a bit quicker.

“But as it’s turned out, playing the four bowlers, I’ve got to do a lot of bowling so I’m happy with how I’ve performed.”

England captain Andrew Strauss conceded his team’s performance at The Wanderers had not been acceptable.

“I think you’ve got to give a lot of credit to Graeme Smith and his team – they didn’t give us a sniff in this Test match,” Strauss said at the post-game presentation.

“They started very well with the ball and put us under pressure and took their chances with the bat.

“They played exceptionally well.

“We’re a little bit disappointed with our performance in this game and leave the tour with a little bit of a bitter taste in our mouths.

“But at the same time I’m very proud of the way team has performed in the 10 weeks we’ve been here.

“To win a one-day series is a good achievement and to halve a Test series out here against one of the best sides in the world is something we can be very proud of.

“It’s not all doom and gloom from our perspective, but we’d have liked to finish the tour a little bit better.”

Strauss insisted the controversial decision review system was not an excuse for England’s fourth Test display, attributing the defeat to their dreadful start with the bat.

“There were some frustrations with the review system but I wouldn’t use it as an excuse – we were outplayed in the game,” he said.

“I think losing four wickets in the first hour cost us quite badly.

“Ultimately, I don’t think we batted as well as we should have done, that’s something we need to address.

“Not enough of our batsmen had good series.

“The way we played over the four Tests, we did pretty well to earn a one-all. South Africa were ahead in three of the four Tests, so to come out at one-all is a good result for us.”

England now travel to Bangladesh for three one-day internationals and two Tests, with the squad for the tour announced today. Strauss did little to quell speculation he will be rested from the forthcoming trip.

Asked whether his name would be included, the skipper said: “We’re going to be having a press conference on that.”

South Africa skipper Smith was pleased to finish the series on a high.

“I’m proud of the way the guys performed in this Test match,” he said.

“We were under pressure coming into this game – we’ve got close in two of the three games before.

“We could easily be sitting here 3-1 up, but credit must go to Andrew and England for the resilient performances they’ve put in at Centurion and Cape Town and for the way they played in Durban.

“It’s been a great series for the game of cricket and for Test cricket.”

There were a number of tense moments throughout a competitive series, but Smith believes the teams can put any animosity behind them now the action has ended.

“I’m sure there will be a cool drink or a beer shared,” he said.

Proteas pace duo Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel shared the man of the match prize after combining for 14 wickets.