Marco Jansen – all-action hero in all formats stands tall for Proteas - Daily Maverick

His all-round ability keeps improving and it’s rare among his generation of SA cricketers.

The Proteas secured a one-day international (ODI) series win over the reigning world champions in the format, Australia, on Sunday, 27 September.

A key contributor to the South Africans taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ­second of their three-ODI contest was bowling ­­all-rounder Marco Jansen, who contributed with the bat and ball – and even pulled off a stunning one-handed catch to help his country win the battle against the Aussies.

Since making his international debut in a Test tussle against India in December 2021, Jansen has quickly evolved into one of the most indispensable members of the Proteas team. Standing 2.06m tall, Jansen has grown to become a vital player in the South African national men’s team and stars in all three formats.

Proteas coach Shukri Conrad has previously spoken about how vital Jansen is for the team’s balance, saying: “He’s a fantastic all-format player who balances our side. He

bowls up front and at the death, and hits the ball a long way.”

A similar sentiment was shared by Conrad’s predecessor in the limited-overs formats, Rob Walter. He raved about how immensely talented Jansen is and spoke about the importance of helping the towering cricketer reach even greater heights.

Walters departed the Proteas coaching ranks after just two years at the helm, citing the need to be closer to his New Zealand-based family. Conrad, who was only in charge of the Test team before Walters’s departure, has since taken over the role of nurturing Jansen and his teammates in all the formats.

With Jansen just 26 years old and still some way from reaching his full potential, especially with the bat, Conrad and his coaching staff can shape him into one of the greatest all-rounders the country has ever produced.

The blueprint is there, with the Proteas having been represented by pace-bowling all-rounders such as Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Justin Kemp, Andrew Hall and Albie Morkel in the 2000s.

Since then, the pipeline for such cricketers in South Africa has dried up, but after his all-action heroics in the first two ODIs against Australia, some excited cricket followers began comparing Jansen to Kallis.

These comparisons are mostly driven by recency bias, because Kallis is the greatest all-rounder the country has ever produced and his contributions with bat, ball and in the field were monstrous.

They are unlikely to be emulated in this lifetime, if ever, but it is a great target for Jansen to aim for as he continues to evolve on the cricket field.

His target? To truly become a quintessential all-rounder who is consistently destructive and effective across all metrics that make an all-­rounder great.

“I don’t just want to be a bowling all-rounder, I want to become an all-round all-rounder, if that makes sense,” he said of his ambitions during a Daily Maverick interview in February 2022. “I’m putting in so much hard work on my batting because I absolutely love to bat.”

Ironically, when he was just a young boy playing cricket for fun alongside his twin brother Duan (also a Proteas player), Jansen specialised in batting and used to be an opener. Memorably, when he was just nine years old, the Klerksdorp-born cricketer scored an impressive 164.

Jansen is yet to score a century for the senior national team, with his highest scores in all formats 93 for Tests, an unbeaten 75 in ODIs and 55 not out in T20s. Of course, it is worth noting that Jansen bats at either number seven or eight, leaving him with little time to assert his dominance with the willow.

With ball in hand in the shortest format, he boasts 33 wickets from 30 matches. In the 50-over format he has managed 52 wickets from 34 innings, and in Tests he is closing in on 100 batters’ scalps, having accumulated 89 wickets from just 38 innings.

Jansen told Daily Maverick that, growing up, he drew inspiration from a number of contemporary fast bowlers. “I watched [left-arm quicks] Mitchell Johnson and obviously Mitchell Starc from Australia, as well as Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi.

“Early on in my career I would just run in and try and bowl quick like Johnson, but now I look at some of the more technical stuff. For instance, Johnson had a sling action, which I don’t.

“Shaheen is a bit more on top and he works with his wrists. He’s very good at using his wrists to make the ball move.”

He added: “When I see something I go out and try it, but I keep in mind that every person is different.”

Since those words were spoken, Jansen has evolved even more, intent on finding his own identity as a bowler.

Coincidentally, he is part of a rare breed of cricketers who bowl with one hand and bat with another.

He bowls left-handed but bats with his right hand. His position as a lefty pacer is invaluable to the Proteas, as fast-bowling colleagues such as Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi launch it in with their right hand.

“The problem, especially when I was younger, came in where I was trying to bowl similar to what other guys were bowling, not realising that what I bring to the table is different to what other bowlers are bringing to the table, and I have to find my own way to be effective and put consistent performances in for the team,” Jansen said about his growth during an April press conference for the Indian Premier League, in which he plays for the Punjab Kings.

“In the last year or so, I’ve felt comfortable in my own skin. I’ve felt comfortable in doing what I feel is best to help me stay consistent and perform on a consistent basis.

“Obviously, you’re going to get your off days. But the goal is just to try to stay consistent and not have those good performances few and far between – try to stack them as close as possible.”

When he made his international debut five years ago, Jansen became the first player born in the new millennium to play for the Proteas. Since then he has been joined in the team by players such as Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis and Kwena Maphaka.

In the absence of Rabada and Ngidi, who both have injuries, Jansen spoke about how he views taking on a leadership role as the team’s next-most-capped seam bowler during a press conference shortly before the Proteas took on the Australians in Durban for the first ODI on 24 September.

“Leadership is that when things go sideways or when things are tough, especially in the field, you have to have a way of calming things down and slowing things down,” he said.

Considering his fortitude, it would be no surprise if Jansen is handed the captain’s armband in a few years’ time. It would be just another all-rounder role for him to throw himself into – a platform to show how much he has matured, from his years as a prodigy in North West to being the Proteas’ all-round all-action man. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R39. The e-edition of DM168 is now free for readers who are signed into their Daily Maverick account. Click on the cover of the newspaper below to access the e-edition.