Vernon Philander has praised the Proteas bowling unit, emphasising its youthfulness, togetherness and work ethic.

The 31-year-old admits that being out of action can be quite depressing and it was satisfying to be competing again.

‘It’s very frustrating when you are out of cricket,’ he said. ‘It was about seven months out of the national side, I had to have physio and do rehab quite a bit and all-in-all, to come down here and put in the performances for the team is satisfying for me personally.

‘It’s always exciting when you have a young bowling attack,’ he added.

‘The guys gelled well; the way Kyle Abbott came in and stepped up to the plate was unbelievable, KG bowled phenomenally well throughout the series. It’s exciting looking forward working with those two over the course of the summer.

On his batting, he said: ‘I am getting into good positions. I am feeling really confident. I worked a lot during those injured months on my batting and have really enjoyed batting out there.’

Philander is happy about the balance within the bowling unit and says that the combination of bowlers complements each other well. Having three striking options adds variation to their attack.

He also commended Faf du Plessis for his captaincy and his management of the bowling workloads and changes.

‘It’s hard to replace a Dale,’ he admitted.

‘In saying that, it leaves an opportunity for someone else to step up. I think the guys have really worked hard and each one has stepped up in different stages throughout the series. We pride ourselves on bowling teams out and it was a phenomenal performance from each player in the attack.’

Philander finished the series with 12 wickets and 136 runs in what was a successful return from a lengthy injury.