Coach Shukri Conrad says the Proteas are still waiting to hear if their two-Test tour of Bangladesh will go ahead.
The Proteas kept their hopes of qualifying for the World Test Championship final alive with a 40-run win against the West Indies in Guyana on Sunday.
To reach the final, they will need to win at least five of their remaining six matches in this cycle – two against each of Bangladesh (away), Sri Lanka (home) and Pakistan (home).
However, the Bangladesh tour in October remains in doubt due to unrest in the country, which has resulted in 600 deaths since July.
“We are aware of the unrest, but we will prepare for the tour until we hear otherwise,” said Conrad, who referred to the World Test Championship final as a ‘nice pot of gold at the end of the rainbow’.
“We’ve got a big couple of months ahead of us to grow as a Test team,” he added. “At the end of that, if we do very well and we win enough games, we can end up in the World Test Championship final.”
While pleased with the Proteas’ series win in the Caribbean, Conrad admitted there is room for improvement, particularly in the batting department.
“[It] remains a little bit of an Achilles heel for us with young and inexperienced batters, you almost factor in that every now and again you’re going to have a few aberrations with the bat. But the vital signs are there that we can go and become a really good test unit.
“The skillsets are there. It’s really just experience we need. With experience, you’ll find fewer soft dismissals and less of the falling over when bowlers bowl well and we’ll be able to put up more of a fight with the bat.”
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