“When you’re winning, the team will always be smiling,” said South African Head Coach, Mark Boucher, after South Africa won the Test series against the West Indies in St. Lucia.

Boucher attributed this win to “a lot of hard work that has been put in behind the scenes,” which has focused largely on upskilling players. During the team’s training camp in Pretoria, Boucher indicated that the team had a few tough conversations regarding the standard of cricket the team had been playing in the recent past.

“The team was prepared to move forward as a unit,” said Boucher. He was confident that the growth of this young South African team would take place in overseas conditions. Although South Africa were on the wrong side of the result in Pakistan, “the team learned a lot of lessons in Pakistan.”

Through the course of this series, Boucher was also impressed with the match awareness players were demonstrating. They knew when to absorb pressure and when they could drive home the advantage.

While South Africa produced two clinical victories in this two-Test series against the West Indies, Boucher is intent on seeing how the South African team responds when it is put under more pressure because that will indicate the extent of the progress the team has made.

Impressed with Keshav Maharaj’s hattrick on the final day of the Test, Boucher said Maharaj had worked hard behind the scenes to elevate his skill set.

“He’s attacking the stumps a lot more. He’ll remember the buildup into the result as well.”

Similarly, Boucher heaped praise on Quinton de Kock for his performances in this series. Describing him as the x-factor in the series, Boucher said, “That 140 he got the other day was almost like a 200.”