The camaraderie in the Proteas Test team that white-washed the West Indies 2-0 in Saint Lucia was there for all to see.

It was credited to the new sheriff in town Dean Elgar‚ who the players have lavished with praise for his apparent open-door policy leadership style that has seen the Proteas get off to a flying start under his stewardship.

Elgar‚ who was appointed Proteas Test captain in March‚ refused to take all the credit after his team earned South Africa their first away Test series win since 2017.

“Firstly it is not about me‚” said the solid opening left-hander who turned 34 last week.

“I am not a ‘me’ guy or a ‘I’ guy – I am a ‘we’ guy. So for me it is about the team and being given the captaincy is obviously a massive honour.

“But you can take it two ways. You can take it to your head or you can take it to your heart. I would like to think that I have taken it to my heart.

“I’m there to motivate the players and I am there to motivate the environment and hopefully motivate myself in the end to obviously do well.”

The Proteas blew away their hosts for 97 in the first innings of the first Test‚ which they went on to win by an innings and 63 runs having batted once.

“For the Proteas I think this was a much-needed series win and I think as players it is going to be so big going forward.

“Hopefully this series win goes from strength to strength. This is huge for us and huge for the country.”

Elgar’s team were victorious by 158 runs in the second and final Test and restricted the West Indies to scores of under 200 in the hosts’ four innings.

It was a start to cherish for Elgar and the new skipper believes the series win in the Caribbean can serve as a stepping stone to a successful captaincy of the Test team.

“[Captaincy] is something that I have always believed I was born with. I have always been a leader when I was at school. From club cricket through to franchise cricket I always like to think that I have led from the front.

“I am a small guy ib stature but I am big guy when it comes to standing up and being representative. It is something that I really treasure. It’s a massive honour for me to lead South Africa.”

The Proteas will change their whites for their bright colours when the five-match T20 series starts on Saturday in Grenada.