It’s out with the old and in with the new in the Proteas camp, according to spin bowler Tabraiz Shamsi.
Following a successful culture camp in Skukuza at the end of last month, the Proteas team addressed their differences and emerged a more collective unit.
But their off-field happiness now has to translate into on-field results.
And with a bunch of stars hanging up their boots recently, Shamsi believes the world better beware of this unknown unit when they get to play international cricket again.
Shamsi says: “It’s really important for us to look at the past, take the good things from it and add to them.
“We always want to improve and we are in a unique position where senior players retired in a big clump and you can’t buy experience.
“Guys like Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander leaving leaves a massive gap and under normal circumstances, you have younger players filtering in and learning from them and preparing them for the time when the legends retire. We didn’t have that.
“We’re a bit of an unknown package and that is not a bad thing, it might be difficult at first...
“[But] even though it’s a young group of guys, we can relate to each other better.
“There’s no major distinction between the older guys and the younger guys.
“We have played with and against each other for a long time, so we have a very good understanding of each other.
“I am comfortable with where we are at and the direction we are going in as a group.”