Shukri Conrad-the former teacher and experienced campaigner

Proteas Test coach Shukri Conrad is renowned for his man-management skills and his ability to get the best out of his players, especially during tough times. The former teacher and experienced campaigner knows exactly when his players need an arm around the shoulder or some tough love. Conrad's wisdom and experience will be crucial as he seeks to galvanise his team ahead of their two-Test series against the West Indies, following the disappointment of the recent T20 World Cup final where South Africa narrowly lost to India by seven runs.

The Proteas invested significant emotional capital in the latter stages of the tournament, making history as the first men’s team from South Africa to qualify for an ICC World Cup final. Although they won many tight matches, they fell short in the one that mattered the most, which will hurt for a while. This is a natural human reaction, and the history of sports shows that performance drops often follow big disappointments.

Despite switching to red-ball cricket for the West Indies series, Conrad acknowledges the emotional toll the T20 World Cup loss has taken on his players. When announcing the squad for the tour, he emphasised the importance of giving the players space to digest the defeat and mentioned that he would assess their mental state when they arrived for camp.

Some of the players who featured in the World Cup will attend a red-ball camp from July 15-19 in Durban, while others will join the team in Trinidad and Tobago on July 27. Players competing in the Major League Cricket final on July 28 will link up with the team on July 29.

"I haven't reached out to the guys yet as I need to give them time to process and recover," Conrad said. "I'll be catching up with the guys who are here at the camp next week, but I certainly didn't want to be doing any conversations as yet. We'll see how the guys pull up and I'll give them the space to deal with the disappointment of the final. I must also mention how brilliantly they played to get to the final, but we've got a different colour ball now. If we need to tap into the psychological part of it, then we'll do so, but I think everybody will be okay,” he added.

Proteas Test Squad Against West Indies:

- Temba Bavuma

- David Bedingham

- Matthew Breetzke

- Nandre Burger

- Gerald Coetzee

- Tony de Zorzi

- Keshav Maharaj

- Aiden Markram

- Wiaan Mulder

- Lungi Ngidi

- Dane Paterson

- Dane Piedt

- Kagiso Rabada

- Tristan Stubbs

- Ryan Rickelton

- Kyle Verreynne