Proteas captain Elgar and coach Boucher believe the inexperience of the batters led to defeat in England

London 13th Sep : South Africa captain Dean Elgar and head coach Mark Boucher both conceded that the lack of knowledge among their players played a significant part in their loss of 2-1 to England in the Test series that ended on Monday.

South Africa started the series with a comfortable win in the first test by 12 runs and an innings in the month of June, with the home side coming back with a stunning victory in the second test, which they took by an innings and 85 roods in Manchester.They were in the lead for the majority of the crucial Test, too -- match which was actually three days of play following the day one wash away and day two was postponed due to the demise of the Queen Elizabeth II.They were then dismissed by the Proteas for scoring low of the 118 and 169 "I believe that a that a lack of expertise as well as a the lack of exposure to cricket in Tests (played in a small part)," Elgar said following the third Test which England took victory in just three days."The absence of exposure to UK conditions with the ball swinging and the ball nipping.

We also were exposed to the kind of playing conditions in the Test, and particularly when the ball was nipping quite often," Elgar was quoted as saying in an article on the Cricket South Africans (CSA) website "It was high up there with some of the most difficult situations Ive encountered and Ive got a adequate amount of experience.Im not able to imagine what a person who has only two or three Tests under his belt would feel.It was hard everywhere." The South Africans faced just 92.4 overs in the third Test, and captain Elgars 36 was their best score of the match.Coach Boucher admitted that it was not a great series for batsmen "We always knew wed be in a position of pressure if conditions changed," he explained after the game ended "I believe that in South Africa the conditions arent the same.

The ball doesnt fly, the contact points are a different.Theres a lot of talk of knowledge and experience is true, but the batters who are here have been consistently the most effective batters in our country.

" "If you look at the top seven batters who were brought to England and won the previous series, I believe they played 470 Test matches, which is between the top seven.In this series there are there are 10 of the batters batted in the top seven.and theyre currently at 170." he was quoted as saying in the CSA report "So theres a significant difference , and the only way to get to experience it is by getting out and playing.Weve backed players to play in several Test matches in conditions in which the ball bounced around slightly but theyve never been able to take off, and thats a shame.

" Elgar was of the opinion that England could force their game on their opponents and do what they had to do.This was the main differentiator between the two nations, he felt "I do not believe they played exceptional cricket." captain Gary added "I believed they were playing the right tempo, and, when their tails were in the air, they were hitting but its just a general knowledge of Test cricket.

" He declared that England did not play aggressive cricket, but showed moderate aggression "It was nothing extraordinary of the normal and they played a decent pace of cricket.Its something that you can manage once youre in front of the game.

I believe they didnt play aggressive cricket, they managed it well and played excellent cricket.This was going to be a long and difficult match away from home.

" The defeat in the series against England left South Africa in the second place in the ICC World Test Championship table.The South African team is now scheduled to rest before getting back together in the later part in the year to play a three-Test trip to Australia.BS.