South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman AB de Villiers is growing in confidence the more time he spends behind the stumps, and feels he is improving with every match after a shaky start for the Proteas.

De Villiers took over the keeping role when Mark Boucher suffered a career-ending eye injury against Somerset in July last year, and many questioned the wisdom of this. Thami Tsolekile was the preferred candidate for many, while others felt a younger player should have been given a go.

There was also concern about De Villiers' chronic lower back problem, and the effects on his batting, but now he seems to have handed the gloves to Quinton de Kock in the shorter formats, and scored a century against Pakistan in the first Test.

The batsman looked rather rusty at first, taking the ball with hard hands, and his foot movement was not ideal despite his ability to take very athletic catches. But he recently began working with Boucher, and this has made a marked impact.

De Villiers, who has never doubted his keeping credentials, said: "The keeping is something I want to do well. I am getting better, though I am not yet where I want to be.

"The work I have done with Bouch has helped me a lot. He doesn't try to change too much technically, but if he picks something up on TV he will let me know.

"I am moving my feet a lot better than when I started and I am much more confident now about standing up to the stumps to the spinners."

Skipper Graeme Smith was quick to give credit to the keeper, especially as his batting has stayed strong and allowed an extra place in the line up.

Smith said: "AB's keeping has been outstanding, it's getting better and better. The area in which he is catching balls is growing and that allows us as slips to space out a bit more which improves our chances of taking catches."

He added: "AB keeping gives us so many options. He will probably always be judged on runs so it was exciting to see him get a hundred as well. We are very happy with his role."