Under the new leadership of Shukri Conrad and Temba Bavuma, the Proteas revealed glimpses of what the future might look like as they dominated and outplayed the West Indies to win the second and final Test at the Wanderers by 284 runs on Saturday.

Conrad and Bavuma assumed the coaching and captaincy roles of the Test side for the first time in this series and have been clear on their plans for the team from the get-go.

Despite the batting woes in the batting line-up, the “brand” of cricket the team wants to play has been on display for the two tests, something pleasing to the eye for many South African cricket fans.

Addressing the media after the victory, the two leaders expressed how satisfied they were with the win and added that a lot of positives will be taken from the series as a whole.

“It’s a successful series for us as a team; I think our first prize was to win the series, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” said Bavuma.

“There’s a lot of positives that we can take from the series, and I think to single out a few, a guy like Aiden coming back into the team and leading the way with the bat is good for us as a team.”

“He was probably the difference between the batters in this whole series, so it was good to see him again carrying his form on the red-ball side.”

Conrad, who took over after a disastrous tour down under in Australia, has rejuvenated the team, taking some brave decisions that have paid off in the end.

He gave his thoughts after the match:

“I did enjoy it; winning is always fun, and it was great being able to see how guys react and respond,” said Conrad

“There’s a little bit of growth that I feel has already happened, so that was rewarding from a cricket point of view, and just to see smiles on people’s faces and a happy changing room, that’s the most fun part for me.”

“It’s no secret where the side is coming from; Australia was dark and also having to deal with Dean no longer being captain, and for Temba to also step up the way he has.”

“We’ve also got some key guys in the changing room that form leadership roles without being at the forefront of team conversations, so yeah, I think that the fundamentals and the cornerstones are there for this team to grow from a culture point of view.”

South Africa will certainly look back at this particular series as a series of growth, learning, and adapting to the new methods introduced by Conrad.

However, for the next eight months, the side will take a break from Test action before getting back on the field against India in December. Bavuma believes keeping themselves “in check” will be important during this long haul.

“I think we’ve got to keep carrying on the language; we’ve got to keep that through in the other formats,” added Bavuma.

“We’re fortunate that the core of our team plays in other formats as well; for example, Aiden is back with the test team and also leads the T20 side, and I’m sure that language will continue within the T20 team.”

“I’ll have that opportunity to keep challenging and carrying the guys within the One-Day side, and that’s really the only thing that we can do. “I think there’ll be a lot more onus and responsibility on the players to keep challenging each other, to make sure that we are all heading in the same direction.”

He added: “It’s unfortunate that we only play our next game in December, but all we can do as players is keep ourselves in check and make sure our cricket and the way we play is going in the direction we’ve all agreed on.”