Trevor Bayliss believes his England side are on the way to becoming “something special” following their series victory in South Africa.

The Australian is just six months into his tenure as head coach, but has already overseen two memorable triumphs – regaining the Ashes in his first attempt last summer and now overturning the Proteas on their home patch with a game to spare.

The England dressing room is led by a vastly-experienced trio of Alastair Cook, James Anderson and Johannesburg match-winner Stuart Broad, not to mention prize batsman Joe Root, but there are plenty of others closer to the start of their international journey.

The other seven players on duty at the Wanderers have each played less than 30 Tests and, if managed well, could reasonably be expected to continue growing as performers.

Bayliss is avowedly not a man to focus on the minutiae of the International Cricket Council’s rankings, he clearly believes the team’s current number five spot is a modest reflection of the talent at his disposal.

“It’s hard to look into the future but you look at some of those players…the potential is there,” he said. “But potential never won anything. You have got to go out and do the hard work and not take everything for granted. You have got to go out and keep having that attitude on the field, keep striving to get better.

“We prepare to go out and play good cricket. If we play good cricket we’ll be in with a chance of winning. If we win a few Test matches there’ll be a chance of going up the rankings and becoming the best team in the world. The future of this team could turn into something special.”

Bayliss seems well-suited to the task of enabling the team’s progress. He runs a calmer ship than his immediate predecessors, has empowered Cook as a leader and helped bring career-best performances from the likes of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow.

But he also has the ability to deliver a rocket when it is required, with Cook crediting him for rallying the team with a “kick up the a***” at lunch on day three in Johannesburg. It had the desired effect, with Broad turning in a phenomenal spell and an intense fielding display settling the match, and series, in England’s favour.

“I wouldn’t class it as a kick up the backside. It was more of a reminder of what we needed to do to help the bowlers win the game,” he explained.