It has gone way better than expected: SA pacer Marco Jansen reflects on first year in international cricket

Sydney [Australia], January 2 : South African bowling all-rounder Marco Jansen on Monday expressed happiness with the start of his international cricketing career, saying that his career's first year has "gone better than expected".
With the Proteas trailing the away series against Australia by 2-0 and the batting attack failing to deliver, its Test future is being debated and would be a sharp point of focus with the domestic T20 league SA20 coming this month.
Jansen has completed his first year at the international level in cricket, after debuting against India in late 2021 in Tests. This tall left-arm quick has made quite an impact, with 36 wickets at an average of 19.02 in eight Tests this year and he has also shown what he can offer with the bat with some crucial knocks, one of which came in the second Test in Melbourne, where he scored his first ever half-century in the sport. He has also earned a nomination for the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year.
"It did not start great, my first over in Test cricket went for 14 (runs). I have not really thought about it yet or reflected but it has gone way better than expected. Could not have asked for a better start, I guess," ESPNCricinfo quoted Jansen as saying ahead of the third Test, which will start on Wednesday.
At the Gabba in the first Test, he had struck on his first ball, sending back Marnus Labuschagne after he landed a catch at slips and ended with figures of 3/32. But in Melbourne, he had figures of 1/89. But the figures do not serve as true reflection of how good he was with the ball, especially his spell to Steve Smith on the second day of the match.
Jansen said that he did not realise that he was causing problems to the star batter until pacer Kagiso Rabada told him so.
"Think KG came to me and said, 'listen, Marco, keep going because he is not looking comfortable'. Think that was after my third over bowling to him. I did not even recognise that he was, not struggling, but finding it a bit challenging and only after that I could see that I should shy away, keep going, keep going, hitting the hard length," said Jansen.
"For me, I always try and see moments and if I see a moment I go even harder in that moment. Whether that is with the ball, in the field or with the bat. So after KG came to me, that's when I realised that I cannot just bowl a floater here, I have to keep on him because we might take a wicket," he added.
In Sydney Test, Proteas are looking forward to not only avoiding a humiliating whitewash, but also keeping their ICC World Test Championship final hopes alive. Just like skipper Dean Elgar, Jansen thinks that South Africa's recent struggles have got more to do with the mental side rather than a lack of skill.
"It is making that mental shift and making a conscious decision to say I am going to put my hand up and do whatever it takes to influence the team in a good way or get the team over the line. Personally, for me, I know everyone gives their best, it is trying to figure out what we can do as individuals to influence the team in a good way or influence the game," said Jansen.
"Whether that is taking five blows to the body or bowling that seven-eight overs on the trot, sort of recognising the moment and doing whatever you can in your power to help the team into a good position."
"We have three Tests left until the final, obviously we want to win all three to give ourselves the best chance possible to get into the Test Championship final. So it is not like we are only going into this game thinking it's just another game and we cruise through it, there's still a goal, still a purpose," concluded the pacer.