Gentle giant's hard edge: Jansen primed for 'heated' Tests

Just as Marco Jansen the cricketer possesses a freakish array of skills and abilities, so too does Marco Jansen the person contain multitudes.

On the former, it might even be said Jansen is unique – if not for another giant left-arm seam bowling, right-hand batting allrounder who shares his DNA. Indeed, Jansen's relationship with his twin explains a bit about his character.

The African bush is not for the faint of heart but even the wildlife on Marco and Duan Jansen's game farm (two-and-a-half hours from where they grew up in Potchefstroom) must think twice when they get a glimpse of more than four collective metres of armed predator.

"We always played those hunting games on PlayStation as kids," says Marco. "We were always fascinated by it. We went on a few hunting trips, and then we just decided to buy our own game farm – we love the bush, we love animals."

On the cricket field, they are equally intimidating, both bowling fast, whippy inswingers and using their long levers to hoist balls over the fence. Really, though, the Jansens are teddy bears. Last month the pink-clad brothers stood shoulder-to-shoulder singing Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika on the Wanderers outfield ahead of the second ODI against Australia. From their fierce backyard contests under the eye of their former rugby-playing father, Koos, this was the moment they became the first South African twins to play an international together.

"My brother told me afterwards he did get a drop or two of tears in his eyes while singing the anthem," says Marco.

The junior Jansen (Marco, by 15 minutes) later fumed with himself when he "mucked up" his chance to bat with his older, shorter (Marco is 209 cm, Duan is 203cm), more outgoing ("I'm introverted," says Marco, "in terms of, I don't like to irritate people … my brother, he doesn't give a shit") and less experienced (Marco has played 95 internationals to Duan's seven) sibling. Marco walked past Duan at the bottom of Johannesburg's iconic race and admitted he could see the nerves in his eyes. Duan proceeded to do a more-than-passable impersonation of his more accomplished brother, belting boundaries off Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa to push South Africa to a match-winning score.

"We're used to playing together in high school, but obviously there is no real crowd, there's no cameras," says Marco. "Just how everything unfolded, obviously getting the win as well – because we don't like to lose – was also really special." 

While Marco will be one of the first names inked on South Africa's team sheet when they face Australia in this week's first Test, Duan remains someway further back in that format's pecking order, even amid a raft of fast-bowler injuries. There does, however, linger a dream of the pair replicating what they did at the Wanderers while wearing whites.

"If that were to happen, then I'd probably be the one with a tear while singing the anthem," says Marco. "For me, the Proteas Baggy means more than any of my other kit. If you were to ask me which format I would play for the rest of my career, if I had to choose, within a heartbeat I'd say Test cricket."

Marco Jansen made his Test debut on the same day as Scott Boland and has been similarly destructive with ball in hand, collecting 90 wickets at 21.12 in 21 Tests since (compared to Boland's 82 wickets at 18.58 from two fewer matches). Add to that a batting average of 23.11, with four half-centuries (including one against Australia in 2022-23) and among the best pair of hands in world cricket. So good, in fact, that he was able to run flat-out to reel in a skied ball off Matthew Renshaw on Durban's leg-side boundary with only two or three fingers in his non-dominant right hand controlling the ball, all but sealing the first ODI. He rates it as the best catch of his career.

It's clear why Punjab Kings coach Ricky Ponting forked out more than A$1m for Jansen's services in the IPL last year. Indeed, Australia has been instrumental in hardening a cricketer who will be among Pat Cummins' biggest headaches in the three-Test series.

Jansen was only seven Tests into his career when he arrived Down Under as a 22-year-old, but he already held a strong reputation after scalping Virat Kohli on debut. What followed was the worst series of his career with the ball; three of his four wickets for the tour (at 50) coming in the opening two-day Gabba Test, while a maiden half-century at the MCG was the high point.

He speaks about his opponents in revered tones. "I saw why Australia is and was the best for so long," he said. "I could see they were – they are – on a different level because they operate in a different way.

"They think in a different way. The way they speak is different. The way they walk is different, and that's why it's so tough to play against them. That's why it's not easy to beat them, because everyone's on the same page in that team environment.

"That caught me off-guard a little bit because it was my first tour to Australia, and I didn't know what to expect. Whereas now I know what to expect."

There is envy, too, of his southern hemisphere rivals whose tour of South Africa marks just one leg of an epic run of Test cricket through 2026-27. If Australia qualify for next year's WTC final, they will play as many Tests in 12 months as Jansen has in almost five years. Jansen hopes to play eight in the next three months (England and Bangladesh also tour this summer) having played none at home since their World Test Championship final win over Australia last year.

"They can play 10 years and they can get to 100 Test matches," says Jansen. "Whereas for us, if you only play eight Test matches a year, and you play 10 years, if you're lucky you're going to get to 80 Test matches.

"So I'm jealous in that sense. I think from a physical point of view, it's a lot more taxing on you. But I've never been in such a position where you play 15-plus Test matches a year."

Four wickets – including Marnus Labuschagne twice – as Kagiso Rabada's support act against Australia in that WTC decider underscored his growth from his first collision with the Aussies. Still, he felt the weight of South African failures past when he sat on the Lord's balcony with a broken thumb waiting to bat as fourth-innings heroes Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma were dismissed with victory in sight.

"Everyone was nervous, even the guys that were done batting, they were nervous," says Jansen, whose teammates eventually got his side home by five wickets without him. "I couldn't move my thumb. It was a weird feeling. It's difficult to explain, but there was a lot of nerves."

Jansen was born about a year after the 1999 World Cup semi-final, the peak of Australians gleefully branding their rivals with the 'chokers' tag. Under Bavuma, a transformational captain in so many respects, South Africa conquered the pressure that swallowed their predecessors.

"It will always be there to a certain degree, but I think we don't carry that psychologically as much as the older generation," he says. "Because obviously we weren't there. I wasn't born yet when that (the '99 semi) happened.

"So for me it's a bit weird to understand how some guys of the older generation, especially when I started, how heavily that emotion, or that burden or whatever you want to call it, is on the older generation. For me I feel like I'm starting with a new slate."

And with that comes a competitive fire that belies his quiet demeanour. Jansen grew up idolising Dale Steyn; subsequently working with the fast bowler and learning that, off the field, he is "the complete opposite" of his wild-eyed persona on it has helped him reconcile the dual aspects of his own personality. So too has sharing the new ball with Rabada, whose equally aggressive on-field nature Jansen recalls observing in awe during Australia's combative 2018 Test tour of South Africa.

"That's why I personally really started watching," he says of the series played during his final year of high school. "I can remember the heat, and all the banter, the pressures and how intense it was."

Jansen believes his own character has developed independently. "I would say on the field I definitely try to be like them," he says. "Obviously I look up to them, 'KG' (Rabada) and Dale – they're great bowlers, so I'm always striving to be that type of guy.

"Then off the field, I think it's just more about being a good friend, being a good teammate … everyone's different and gives their own personality. That's sort of what makes playing in a team sport so beautiful and so nice."

Earlier in that Kingsmead one-dayer where Jansen pulled off his game-winning catch, he had been at the non-striker's end when he and Matthew Breetzke pinched a single after a Josh Inglis throw rebounded off Breetzke's body. Jansen towered over Nathan Ellis, the bowler who had fumed at this apparent breach of etiquette.

"I don't think when we took the run, that was what necessarily started it," Jansen says of the spice between the two sides in Australia's opening match of their South African tour. "I think Matthew Breetzke, just because of his personality – he's similar to Marnus (Labuschagne) and Steve Smith with their mannerisms – they don't do it on purpose, but if they do it for long enough, it can irritate you. Then that single sort of sparked it."

So was that a portent of the Test series to come, when the stakes are even higher? "I can tell you – it's going to be heated," Jansen says without hesitation. "It probably won't be as heated as it was when Australia toured here (in 2018). But there's definitely going to be some fire being delivered from both ends."

When it does, do not expect Jansen to take a backwards step.

Qantas tour of South Africa 2026

All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket

First Test: October 9-13, Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, 6:30pm AEDT (9:30am local)

Second Test: October 18-22, St George's Park, Gqeberha, 7pm AEDT (10am local)

Third Test: October 27-31, Newlands, Cape Town, 7:30pm AEDT (10:30am local)

South Africa's first Test preliminary squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Sam Harper, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (second Test onwards), Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nic Maddinson, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster