There is one stand-out candidate for this week's Cricket World Player of the Week award, and it is Rangana Herath, who ended the first Test against England with career-best match figures of 12 for 171.
New Zealand's predicament in the third and final Test went from bad to worse when captain Ross Taylor was revealed to have suffered a broken bone in his left forearm.
He was hit while batting and retired hurt on 18 and his side were subsequently bowled out for 275 replying to South Africa's 474 for nine declared.
For the second day in a row, bad weather severely curtailed proceedings in the third and final Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Wellington.
In what little play that was possible at the Basin Reserve, South Africa moved their score from 136 for two to 246 for two in 37 overs.
New Zealand have recalled batsman Daniel Flynn and all-rounder Dean Brownlie to their 14-man squad for the third and final Test against South Africa, which gets underway in Wellington on 23rd March.
The pair replace Rob Nicol and Brent Arnel, who both featured in New Zealand's nine-wicket defeat in the second Test which leaves them having to win the final game to tie the three-match series.
South Africa wrapped up a nine-wicket victory over New Zealand on day three of the second Test in Hamilton, easily reaching a target of 101.
Graeme Smith stroked an unbeaten 55 and Hashim Amla was unbeaten on 46 as South Africa closed on 103 for one having bowled New Zealand out for 168 in their second innings.
Fast bowler Mark Gillespie has been handed a recall to New Zealand's Test squad ahead of the second Test against South Africa, which begins in Hamilton on Thursday (15th March).
Gillespie, who has played three Tests, replaces Tim Southee in the squad following the rain-affected drawn opener in Dunedin.
Rain washed out the final day's play of the first Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Dunedin with the result that the match was drawn.
New Zealand closed day four on 137 for two having been set 401 to win but were unable to continue their run chase due to the bad weather.
New Zealand are poised to claim a slender first-innings lead over South Africa in the first Test in Wellington after they closed day two on 243 for nine replying to the Proteas' score of 238.
Chris Martin finished with four wickets to bowl the South Africans out before three New Zealanders fell just short of half-centuries in an intriguing battle.
New Zealand have added wicket-keeper Kruger van Wyk to their squad ahead of the first Test against South Africa which gets underway on Wednesday (7th March) in Dunedin.
He will cover for BJ Watling, who has been ruled out of the match due to a hip injury.
South Africa swept to a five-wicket victory over New Zealand in the third and final One-Day International in Auckland to wrap up a 3-0 series clean sweep.
In a low-scoring game, Marchant de Lange returned four for 46 as New Zealand were bowled out for 206 before Hashim Amla made 76 to help South Africa reach their target in the 44th over.
Uncapped players Rob Nicol and Andrew Ellis have been included in New Zealand's 13-man squad for the opening Test against South Africa in Wellington.
Captain Ross Taylor, who has not played since damaging a calf muscle in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, also returns to the lead the side.
Hashim Amla's 92 from 107 balls ensured that South Africa experienced few problems in overhauling New Zealand's below-par 230 in the second One-Day International in Napier.
The home side had recovered well after the early loss of Rob Nicol for 11, but Morne Morkel extracted extravagant bounce from a hard surface to run through the lower order and do the bulk of the damage during a collapse of seven for 55.
It is Graeme Swann who takes this week's award. His bowling figures of three for 13 and two for 17 in the first two Twenty20 Internationals against Pakistan may not immediately stand out as award-winning contributions, but put it against the performances of the other five spinners used in the series by both teams and it suddenly looks a lot better. Messrs Ajmal, Afridi and co. have taken six wickets at a combined average of 32.33 from the two matches, with Swann's haul of five wickets at an average of six far superior.
South African captain AB de Villiers stroked an unbeaten century to guide his side to a six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first One-Day International in Wellington.
De Villiers hit 106 not out and Francois du Plessis an unbeaten 66 as South Africa recovered from 35 for three to strike first in the three-match series by closing on 254 for four in reply to New Zealand's 253 for nine.
Marchant de Lange conceded just three runs from the final over as South Africa pulled off a remarkable win to clinch the three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand in the most dramatic fashion in Auckland.
Jesse Ryder had got the home side into a virtually unbeatable position with a typically powerful 52 from 42 balls, which followed a bright opening stand of 65 from Rob Nicol (33 from 19 balls) and Martin Guptill (26 from 19) in the first six overs.
Alastair Cook enjoyed a prolific week with the bat to notch up 319 runs at an average of over 100 and a strike rate of 88.37 to pip Steven Finn to this week's award.
Cooks transformation from Test match plodder to become the first England player since Paul Collingwood five years ago to score back-to-back ODI centuries can be traced as far back as to 2008 when he played only one ODI during the English summer and vowed to improve his limited-overs game.
New Zealand have included fit-again trio James Franklin, Andy McKay and Jesse Ryder in their 14-man One-Day International squad to take on South Africa.
The three-match series gets underway in Wellington on Saturday (25th February) and Ryder has also been added to the squad for the third and final Twenty20 International in Auckland on Wednesday (22nd February).
Richard Levi produced a staggering display of batting, crashing an unbeaten 117 in 51 balls as South Africa secured an eight-wicket victory in the second Twenty20 International in Hamilton.
Levi thumped 13 sixes as he became the sixth man to score a Twenty20 International century, equalling Chris Gayle's record score and hitting more sixes in a T20I innings than any other player had managed before.
Martin Guptill smashed a brilliant unbeaten 78 in 55 balls to hand New Zealand a six-wicket victory over South Africa in the first Twenty20 International in Wellington.
After South Africa closed on 147 for six, New Zealand reached their target with four balls to spare as Guptill hit five fours and four sixes in his match-winning innings.
South Africa made a winning start to their tour of New Zealand as they beat Canterbury by 20 runs in a Twenty20 game in Christchurch.
Their score of 150 for six proved enough when four wickets - including a hat-trick - from Lonwabo Tsotsobe dismissed Canterbury for 130 in reply.
All-rounder Justin Ontong has been handed a recall to South Africa's One-Day International and Twenty20 International squads ahead of the tour of New Zealand.
Ontong has been rewarded for outstanding form with the Cape Cobras and will join the squad for the series of three ODIs and three T20s.
