Albie Morkel hopes Marco Jansen’s growth will accelerate at World Cup

Albie Morkel copped a fair amount of criticism in his playing career. He was also lavished with praise. There was little compromise, which is something Morkel had to learn to live with.

It’s why Morkel, now part of the coaching staff with the Joburg Super Kings in the SA20, empathises with Marco Jansen. “It’s going to be very tricky; No 6 or 7 (in the batting order) is a position, where there is no middle ground (in limited overs cricket),” said Morkel.

Morkel spent years in that spot, where his big hitting powered South Africa to some memorable triumphs, but his failures also meant he wasn’t trusted by captains and selectors, and he wasn’t selected for either of the 50-over World Cups which coincided with his 50-over career. 

He explained how throwing the inexperienced Jansen, who’s played only 14 ODIs, into such a critical position, with so much responsibility, is asking a lot.

“Either the team is in deep trouble or you come in after a good foundation and you still have to play your game. You have to play both parts with the bat; either rebuilding the innings, or winning a game from an impossible position. It’s an unforgiving spot, especially in 50 overs cricket,” said Morkel.

The template of course was established by Lance Klusener in 1999, but no-one else has matched that and expecting the 2.06m 23 year old, who has less than 30 international matches to his name to do it, is unfair. 

South Africa’s selectors, however, have backed Jansen’s potential. Rob Walter believes Jansen is nowhere near his ceiling (no pun intended) and Morkel is excited by what he has seen. “They need to show patience with him, because I honestly think that Marco can develop into a player who can do that role.”

“He has the ability and the talent, we saw that against Australia. But it is a high pressure position. It is never an easy game, you are either setting (a score) or chasing (a target) it’s a position that can mentally ‘get a hold of you’,” said Morkel.

Importantly, Jansen is taking it all in his lengthy stride. He explained that his love of batting meant he wasn’t overwhelmed by the all-rounder role. “I can express myself when I am batting, when I am bowling it’s like I have a real job to do,” he said.

Regarding the bowling, both Morkel and Jansen cite the importance of simplicity. Jansen said in the early stages of the series against Australia he was trying to swing the ball and failed. It upset his rhythm and muddled his thinking generally. The harder and faster pitches on the highveld, where the last two ODIs were played, demanded an uncomplicated approach, and at the Wanderers led to a maiden ODI five wicket haul.

“The bounce helps him out — his margin of error will be bigger because of that; we’ve seen with pace, especially in the subcontinent that if you bowl it consistently in a certain area, batters can use it,” said Morkel. 

I like him as a package. He will be an amazing player for SA.

—  Albie Morkel on Jansen

With the bat, Jansen will have to learn to adapt to different situations, and employ skills which he may not have refined as yet. “He got a taste of it (against Australia),” Morkel said of the variety of scenarios Jansen encountered with the bat. In the first match he came to the crease at 100/5 in the 25th over and shared a stabilising partnership of 57 runs with Proteas’ skipper, Temba Bavuma, who made a hundred. 

The lessons for Jansen from that match was balancing his natural aggression with more patience. In the third and fifth matches of that series he delivered explosive hitting helping SA to set up match-winning totals. 

“If you play on a tricky wicket, you can throw whoever you want in there, it is a tough place to bat. It’s when the spinners operate, they take pace off the ball, you have to be able to work the ball around, play the sweep ... it’s a position, as a batter, where you need to know your game pretty well.”

Jansen may still be learning, but there is an awareness about how his approach should change. “I’ve improved a lot in terms of my options; I felt like I had certain shots that were my go-to shots. Against a spinner, the go-to shot was a slog sweep, where now I feel like I can play more from the back foot or manoeuvre more in the crease. I have a few more options if I am stuck. If I see I can’t hit every ball for six or plant my front foot and go over ‘cow corner’, I can get off strike and help the team in terms of strike rotation,” he said.

It’s very much a case of learning on the job, for Jansen, and while recognising the pressure and responsibility of that position, it is encouraging that he seems enthused by the task. “I like him as a package,” said Morkel, “he will be an amazing player for SA.”