Former Australian fast bowler Mike Whitney has likened South African left-arm quick Marco Jansen to Bruce Reid, the man who made Boxing Day his own for two memorable summers more than 30 years ago.
Whitney, one of the great characters of Australian cricket, was also a left-armer, claiming 39 wickets in 12 Tests between 1981 and 1992.
A fine technician with an eye for detail, Whitney predicted pre-series that Jansen, who hails from the university town of Potchefstroom in the North West Province of South Africa, was a man to watch. And that he was in Brisbane, claiming 3-32 in Australia’s first innings, dismissing Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Cameron Green. He did not bowl in Australia’s short second dig.
Beanpole Proteas quick Marco Jansen will have a key role to play come Boxing Day.Credit:Getty Images
Eight Tests into what shapes as a gold-plated career, with 40 wickets at 18, the beanpole Jansen, 22, now hopes to be selected and light up cricket’s showpiece event – the Boxing Day Test.
“My pick before the start of the series was Marco Jansen, the big left-armer. I saw him running in on the TV and thought: ‘It’s “Chook” Reid all over again’. But I think he is a little bit stronger than Bruce,” Whitney said.
“He gets good carry, looks deceptive, looks like he is just rolling the arm over, but bowling 135km/h, and he can bat. He can sling it in, and he can take it away, so he is going to be my pick for the series for the South Africans. He could be anything. That’s just with his bowling – he can bat as well.”
Jansen is seen as a promising allrounder, but has only 202 runs at 18.36 without a half century in his 13 innings. Batting at No.7, he made two and a duck in Brisbane.
Reid had a fine Test career, pocketing 113 wickets at 24.63 in 27 Tests, but he remains one of the great “what-ifs” because of his persistent back problems. At his best, the lanky West Australian was destructive, claiming match figures of 13-148 against England at the MCG in 1990, and 12-126 a year later at the same venue against India.
Jansen, who began his career as a batter, is three centimetres taller than Reid, and impressed Virat Kohli when used as a net bowler against the touring Indians as a 17-year-old. He and his twin brother Duan learnt their craft from their father Koos in the family backyard.
While impressive, Whitney said Jansen could find more speed, should he tinker with his action.
Former Australian fast bowler Mike Whitney likes what he has seen from South African Marco Jansen.Credit:James Brickwood
“I watched him bowl the other day. Most fast bowlers, when you follow through, your back arm ends up extended out the back. His doesn’t. His stops at a 90-degree angle by his side, he doesn’t really push it through,” Whitney said.
“If he did that, he would bowl a yard quicker. He bowls 140 km/h now – he could push that up to 145, with that front-arm follow through, swinging them in, really dangerous.”
The Proteas, having lost inside two days in Brisbane, need to rebound on the drop-in pitch in Melbourne, otherwise Sydney will be a dead rubber.
Fellow quicks Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje exploited weaknesses in the Australian top-order, but the Proteas’ fragile batting order – they do not have a batsman with a career average of more than 40 – remains a major concern.
Leading South African commentator Neil Manthorp hopes Jansen can find touch with the bat, as the tourists hope their batsmen can take a stand.
“After the six-wicket defeat in the first Test, the team would have come together and said it’s not one person’s fault. The message would have been that everyone could have done more,” Manthorp told SuperSport.
“Given the conditions in Australia, we are probably going to have to go the way of a five or six bowling and batting split. Owing to quicker wickets and seamer-friendly conditions, it’s going to be difficult to change the team from that perspective.
Marnus Labuschagne shakes hands with Jansen following the conclusion of the first Test in Brisbane.Credit:AP Photo
“It means that we are probably always going to be a batsman light, but we back the allrounder in Marco Jansen. I believe he will step up because he’s a proficient player with the bat and, hopefully, he comes good.”
Whitney will also have his focus on David Warner come Boxing Day.
Warner’s home in Sydney grade cricket is the Randwick Petersham Cricket Club, where Whitney has been the long-time president. He expects the robust opener to deliver a bumper innings in his 100th Test, easing the spotlight on his future after almost three years without a Test ton.
“He will rectify it. He is so hungry, he is really fit. Look at him in the field, the way he attacks the ball and stuff like that. He definitely wants to be there,” Whitney, whose last Test was in the win over the West Indies at the MCG in 1992-93, said.
“He is a tough dude, he is a ‘Matto’ boy where I grew up. If you come from Matraville (in Sydney’s east), you are tough.”
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