Proteas captain Faf du Plessis would like nothing more than to bury his head in the sand after an “embarrassing” exit at the Cricket World Cup.
With two matches to go at the global showpiece in England, South Africa are already out of the running after their 49-run defeat to Pakistan on Sunday.
The defeat left them with only one win in seven matches and no hope of making the playoffs.
But they can’t go into hiding just yet, with two matches left to play - against Sri Lanka on Friday and Australia next week.
Of their sad situation, Du Plessis says: “We’re a mediocre team at the moment because we’re making the same mistakes all the time.
“[But] you have to keep trying, unfortunately you can’t go away [and hide]. Naturally there are guys that if they are low on confidence they get quiet.
“I’m a very proud player and captain and playing for South Africa means a lot to me.
"The fact that the results that we are dishing out at the moment, you know it’s really, really tough and [the match against Pakistan] was becoming a little bit embarrassing.”
He adds: “We’re trying but it’s just not good enough. Obviously, I’m human as well, so it will keep chipping at me as well.
“We don’t have the opportunity to go anywhere, the coach, myself and the senior players need to front up, that’s when the players need you the most. I need to be there for the other players as well.”