Winning a Test series in South Africa is the rarest of events and worthy of a volley of champagne corks. A triumph as dramatic as England's should surely be feted by magnums all round.
It is unlikely that England coach Duncan Fletcher, however, lost his sense of perspective during the celebrations after his side's 2-1 success.
England became only the second side after Australia to triumph in South Africa during the post-apartheid era, in so doing recording their first series win there for 40 years.
Fletcher, with half an eye already trained on the Ashes later in the year, will be aware that his side played inconsistent cricket that swung from the inspired to the downright poor.
Or, as captain Michael Vaughan put it, when asked to rate his side's overall performance: "I would say 10 out of 10 for some sessions, and three out of 10 for others."
For many England players, indeed, it was a below-par campaign.
Andrew Strauss -- with three of England's six centuries and an average of 72.88 -- Andrew Flintoff -- with 23 wickets at 24.95 -- Matthew Hoggard -- with 26 at 25.50 -- and the obdurate Ashley Giles all deserved A pluses, with Marcus Trescothick not far behind.
HOUSE OF CARDS
The experienced middle-order batting, though, was a house of cards, with Vaughan himself one of the prime culprits. Vaughan, Graham Thorpe, Mark Butcher, Flintoff and Geraint Jones, indeed, all scored below their Test career averages. Vaughan needed his final defiant cameo to save the fifth Test to get to an average of 30.
Geraint Jones's keeping, too, was suspect while Steve Harmison, the world's premier bowler on his arrival, disappeared without trace.
Before the tour, the imposing Durham bowler was regarded as the main difference between the sides but, never finding line or length, he ended the five Tests at the bottom of the bowling averages, taking nine wickets at a miserable 73.22 apiece.
When, despite a calf problem, he began showing signs of emerging from his long hibernation right at the end of the tour, his fielders let him down with a string of dropped catches.
His failure, however, as well as that of support swing bowler James Anderson, merely underlined how resilient a team England have become under Vaughan. When one player fails, another invariably fills the breach. The muscular Flintoff, with the most sustained bowling performance of his England career, did just that for his close friend Harmison.
There were other causes for celebration. By winning the first Test the team clinched a national record of eight Test wins in a row. In the second, England were bowled out for 139 but scored 570 for seven in the second innings and were on the brink of victory when bad light intervened.
After Jacques Kallis and seamer Charl Langeveldt inspired South Africa to level the series in Cape Town, Trescothick's second-innings 180 and Hoggard's seven for 61 during an epic fourth Test at The Wanderers settled the series.
Australia will provide a much, much sterner test later in the year but Fletcher, whose team are ranked second only to the world champions, will take heart from the fact that there is plenty of room for improvement -- and absolutely none for complacency.
South Africa, slipping down the world rankings, have less cause to celebrate.
MAGNIFICENT POLLOCK
Shaun Pollock (21 wickets at 23.95) and Makhaya Ntini (25 wickets) were magnificent in matching their opponents, while the admirable Kallis cancelled out Strauss.
But the support bowling was lacking -- Langevelt seemed to have provided the answer only to break his hand -- and the batting failed to dominate when it really mattered.
Skipper Graeme Smith, who scored two double centuries against England in 2003, averaged 29.88, dropped himself down the order and failed to inspire with his leadership, particularly on the last day of the series when he allowed South Africa's innings to dawdle when a killer instinct could have saved the series.
Young strike bowler Dale Steyn, though, looked like a sure bet for the future while the 20-year-old AB de Villiers shone as a middle-order batsman, a stand-in wicketkeeper and an opener, scoring a maiden century at the death.
Coach Ray Jennings will need some good results against Zimbabwe and West Indies in the coming months if he is to retain the selectors' confidence. Since polishing off the West Indies at the start of 2004, South Africa have lost three out of four series and drawn the other.
