Cape Town - South African cricket fans might be down in the dumps after Test and T20 series defeats against England, but David Gower insists it's not all doom and gloom for the Proteas.

Successive home Test series defeats to Sri Lanka and England, coupled with the 3-0 humiliation in India in October last year and a limp showing at the 2019 Cricket World Cup, has supporter morale at an all-time low, with the immediate outlook seemingly not too bright.

But Gower, who captained England to Ashes glory in 1985, and who scored more than 26 000 First-Class runs (with 53 centuries) in an 18-year career, believes there is some reason for optimism, despite the inherent problems facing Cricket South Africa (CSA).