The Proteas red-ball coach, Shukri Conrad, was more than satisfied after their 1-0 Test series win against the West Indies in the Caribbean.

On the weekend, South Africa beat the Windies by 40 runs in the second and final Test in Guyana with two days to spare to clinch the series and earn valuable World Test Championship points.

South Africa’s bowling was the major positive from the tour in which Keshav Maharaj was named the player of the series. Conrad said there were many positives, while their batting however remains a work in progress.

Tristan Stubbs. Photo: Cricinfo

“The West Indies is a tough place to come and tour and like I said right at the start of the tour, they’re a different team when they play at home and they’ve also come off having played a tough series against England. So they were match-ready.

“From a results point of view, I’m really happy that we were able to win the series and that is what we set out to do. Whether you’re entirely happy with the performance, I think there’s obviously room for improvement. I thought we did a lot of things really well, but we also did a few things not so well.

“Especially in the batting department, that remains a little bit of an Achilles heel for us. But with young and inexperienced Test batters, I think you almost factor that in that every now and again, you’re going to have a few aberrations with a bat. A bit like we had yesterday morning. And, maybe in a Test match or two before this.

“The vital signs are there that we can go and become a really good test unit. I think the skillsets are there. It’s really just the experience that we need.

“Our bowlers are always going to keep us in the contest because they are of that quality. And it’s really just for our batters to gain the necessary experience. I think with the experience you’ll find less of the soft dismissals and less of the falling-over bowlers bowling well, and I think we’ll be able to put up more of a fight with the bat.

“But I’m really happy with the Test series result, we never take those things for granted. The conditions are tough here. I don’t think people quite understand the heat factor here. 

“It’s been extreme heat conditions and the manner in which the guys have stuck to their guns, I can only commend that. We look forward to our next test series when hopefully we can make those necessary improvements.”

Dane Piedt. Photo: Cricinfo

The Proteas’ next series is scheduled to be played against Bangladesh in October and November, however, at this stage it’s unclear whether or not it will still be going ahead due to the recent unrest in the country.

Meanwhile, the Proteas’ attention shifts to white-ball cricket now, with the first T20 International against the Windies being played on Friday in Port of Spain.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek dg/mvh