In the last year, Marco Jansen has flown on the scene to become one of the hottest prospects in South African cricket, writes Khalid Mohidin.
“My search is done. I achieved exactly what I wanted to in the first two days of Khaya Majola Week 2018/19” – those were the words that I would come to regret.
It was my second tournament covering it as a journalist, so I had a little bit of extra confidence in my searching methods which I believed were near perfect.
My plan was foolproof – draw up a list of all the names people are talking about, travel to the different games where they are playing and interview the players who I think have a promising career ahead of them.
The secret list was ticked off by day two, having seen the likes of Lifa Ntanzi, Bryce Parsons, Bonga Makaka, Kgaudise Molefe, Jonathan Bird, Lehan Botha, Gerald Coetzee and Achille Cloete in action and now I had the chance to enjoy the cricket, and study these players more in-depth.
It wasn’t until the awards that I realised I had missed a big fish. How I missed him was baffling. There he stood on stage, standing at 2.06 metres tall, towering above all his SA Colts teammates, the All-rounder of the Week – Marco Jansen from Potchefstroom Gimnasium, representing North West.
It frustrated me that I had missed out on watching him in action, all because of a stubborn strategy which restricted me from unearthing more unknown gems in the tournament. So consider that method scrapped.
I had the opportunity, however, to see him in action when the SA Colts beat SA Schools and there was definitely something unique about the player, other than his incredible height.
Jansen has since gone on to achieve an incredible run of form that saw him selected for SA U19, SA Emerging as well as the SAA side and the Mzansi Super League for the Durban Heat within just a few months.
When asked about his rise Jansen’s answer was clear: “Hard work and dedication,” he said exclusively to Cricket Fanatics Magazine.
This is the vital ingredient to success and Jansen has it flowing in his veins. You can always tell when talking to a young cricketer whether they are an outlier or not. Do they settle for being good? Or do they strive to be excellent?
When chatting to Jansen about his exceptional Khaya Majola Week stint, that mindset shone through.
“I didn’t perform like I wanted to in the first two days [of Coke Week] except for the 5-for on the first day,” he said.
“On the third day, our coach [Jimmy Kgamadi] called me aside and told me that I am better with the bat and that’s when I scored a century off 66 balls. If it wasn’t for coach Jimmy I wouldn’t have performed as well as I did.”
In the tri-series against Sri Lanka Emerging and University Sports South Africa XI, he played four matches. He scored 63 runs, which included an unbeaten 53, and he was not out three times. He also took eight wickets at an average of 23 and an economy of 4.92. An incredible effort from the 19-year-old.
What is encouraging is that his drive from the get-go is spot on.
“My main goal is to just play the game I love to the best of my ability,” he added. “I never started playing this game because of the money, I started playing cricket because I love it and it gives me joy.”
Those words and coupled with his unique attributes – six-foot-seven, left-arm bowling all-rounder – definitely highlights him as a promising player.
Photo: Ranjith Peralam/Kerala Cricket Association
