Hashim Amla capped a successful debut season as captain of the  Proteas following the 2-0 series win over the West Indies on Tuesday but, he says, the best is yet to come.

Amla, who has won four out of six matches (with two draws), also said changes need to be made to find the best team.

‘To find the winning combination is still our main goal. To be honest I think we still have a long way to go to find the right guys. The guys who have come in have done well, which is exceptional, but there will probably be some changes I’m sure.’

The Proteas have capped four debutants since the beginning of the Test series in August, with all new caps showing maturity and confidence on the international stage.

‘What they have brought to the team has been amazing,’ Amla said. ‘Guys like Temba Bavuma; I look at Dane Piedt when he played in Zimbabwe, Stiaan here and Simon Harmer as well. They have brought a lot of energy to the team, a lot of freshness; everyone enjoyed having the debutants around. We were all a little bit nervous and excited to see how they would perform.’

He, too, is learning, he says.  ‘Certainly as captain you hope that you can learn more and more,’ Amla said. ‘I would say that after six matches I’m learning a lot more about the captaincy as well as Test cricket. I am fortunate that my tenure as captain has been a very short tenure to begin with, so it’s given me a lot of time to contemplate it.

‘Sri Lanka was the highlight for me because I don’t think many people expected us to win there, we all know what a good team they are in Sri Lanka,’ he said. ‘In Zimbabwe we were almost expected to win and fortunately we did, and it was a little bit of the same against the West Indies.’