A 4-0 drubbing at the hands of England in the subsequent One-Day International Series, following the Proteas' historic 2-1 victory in the Test Series, might be seen by some as an absolute disaster, but perhaps it is a blessing in disguise.

There have been some whispers in recent times to give our 'ageing' ODI side a makeover of sorts — get the old players out and replace them with some youthful ones.

There might be merit in those suggestions, but the problem with that is two-fold:

Firstly, our 'ageing' team isn't nearly as old as some make them out to be. Australia won the 2007 World Cup — at a canter I might add — with a team filled with 'old' players. Glenn McGrath (37), Adam Gilchrist (35), Brad Hogg (36) Matt Hayden (35) Ricky Ponting (31), Mike Hussey (31), Andrew Symonds (31) were all into their 30s at that time.

Some of those players were absolute legends of the one-day game, but that did't make them any younger. Our current one-day team doesn't even have that many 'older' players in, with Herschelle Gibbs (34), Jacques Kallis (32) Mark Boucher (31), Makhaya Ntini (31) and André Nel (31) the only players currently over the age of thirty.

What makes even less sense, however, is that the same critics calling for the heads of some the older players to roll, are also mentioning how this South African side could have done with Shaun Pollock. For the record, Polly, who did a fine job as a commentator on this England tour, is now 35!

Secondly — and more importantly — who do the critics suggest we replace the 'older' guys with?

It has become clear that a guy like Justin Ontong, for instance, is not the answer. In his international career stretching as far back as 2001 — he averages 10 with the bat and is not far off 29 years of age. Which begs the question, why is he even on tour if he isn't going to play in a dead rubber, like the fourth ODI at Lord's was? (Ok, so he was meant to play on Wednesday — although that was scuppered by the dodgy Cardiff weather.)

And if not Ontong — who else is there? Guys like Loots Bosman, Alviro Petersen and Gulam Bodi keep on featuring for SA 'A' sides, but whenever they've been given a bit of a run in the team, they have failed to impress.

Then, of course, there is the Kolpak issue. Where the general public might not have been aware of the extent of the problem in the past, it has become that much clearer now. Jaques Rudolph (who many believe to be a better player than Graeme Smith) is arguably the most high-profile of our recent Kolpak losses, but several other of the most promising players in our domestic circuit in the last couple of seasons have signed the dreaded Kolpak contract with English County sides.

Guys like Rudolph, Ryan McLaren, Faf du Plessis and Dillon du Preez should have been the ones knocking on the selectors' door now, staking their claim to be included in the Proteas ODI side and from there possibly the Test team as well. Unfortunately, they are not available for selection, and so we keep on seeing Ontong, Bodi, Bosman and Petersen on the fringes of the side. Over and over again.

Think about this, too; Vernon Philander did not exactly set the world alight in England with his 'all-round' performances, yet he has done pretty well domestically in South Africa. Is that because he is a playing in a sub-standard domestic competition in SA due to many top-level players plying their trade abroad?

But it is not all doom and gloom. Somewhat surprisingly, the wristy Hashim Amla was arguably our best player in the ODI series — and, frankly, deserves an extended run in the side, even when Graeme Smith returns to fitness. Furthermore, it seems that Cricket SA is trying to lure a quality all-rounder in Ryan McLaren back to South Africa. Vaughn van Jaarsveld — another Kolpak 'escapee '— has already returned to SA, albeit somewhat controversially.

If I were part of SA's ODI selection committee, one head that would roll is that of long-time wicketkeeper Mark Boucher. Not that he has done any worse than many of the other senior players (or for that matter any of the other players), but now just seems the perfect opportunity to hand the gloves — in the ODI side at first — to AB de Villiers. In an ideal world, De Villiers would give the Proteas something similar to what the dominant Aussies had in Adam Gilchrist — a genuine batsman behind the stumps, effectively opening up the side to play an extra bowler or batsman, depending on the make-up of the rest of the team.

Whether the selectors decide to effectively blood a 'new' generation of players with the 2011 World Cup in mind or make limited changes to the ODI side in future remains to be seen, but a 4-0 series loss to England is bound to have some repercussions as far as the one-day team is concerned.

I, for one, hope it has repercussions, but they need to be well thought-out because the current crop of those players considered the 'next best' in South Africa would not exactly have the Aussies shaking in their boots...

What do you think? How can SA solve their sudden one-day woes? Or has it been a long time coming? Post your comments below!