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Cape Town - To say that the Proteas are going through a tough time would be a massive understatement, but there are reasons for the struggles and good things to come.
That is the view of Dean Elgar, who was given the unenviable task of addressing media after South Africa's bowling attack had witnessed Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow's 399-run partnership on day two of the second Test at Newlands.
It was a day to forget for the Proteas, who will go into Monday desperate for centuries from their misfiring batting line-up.
The frustrations in South African cricket circles are growing.
A 3-0 series loss in India was followed up by a 241-run hammering in Durban in the Boxing Day Test.
Those results, coupled with bowling injuries and batting woes, have left captain Hashim Amla very much in the firing line from what is an expectant support base.
But Elgar was a voice of calm on Sunday, and while he understood the concerns of supporters, he encouraged them to be patient.
"What people have to understand is the Proteas Test team is going through a change. We’ve got a lot of new faces in our Test team, as what was happening in our one-day side a while back. They also went through the same processes," said Elgar, who made 44 on Sunday.
"We’re going to cop a lot of abuse and we’re a strong enough unit to take it on the chin and we’re also a strong enough unit to bounce back and keep on following our processes that got us to No 1 status a few years ago.
"The people just have to understand … we know it’s frustrating as players because we don’t want to do badly. It’s a massive point of ours … we don’t want to do badly.
"We know there’s good out there and there’s good around the corner. It’s just a very patient and frustrating time.
"We’ve got a new captain, a new opening pair, a new middle-order … we’re a very inexperienced bowling line-up when it comes to Test cricket."
The Proteas go into the third day on 141/2 - 488 runs behind England's 629/6 declared.
Amla is unbeaten on 64, while AB de Villiers is on 25.
