Facing twin brother was special moment, Jansen says
Proteas pace bowler Marco Jansen says playing against identical twin brother Duan in a professional match for the first time is a memory he will treasure.
Jansen, who played for the Dafabet Warriors in their emphatic victory over the North West Dragons at the weekend, had his first taste of red-ball cricket since the Proteas tour of England earlier in 2022.
The lanky left-armer did the business with the ball, claiming match figures of 6/80 to help his side crush their North West opponents.
For Jansen, it was a bittersweet moment, having twice dismissed his fellow 2m-tall sibling when he caught him at gully off the bowling of Beyers Swanepoel in the first innings, before finding the edge of Duan’s bat in the second.
Speaking about their relationship, Jansen said there had always been a competitive streak between them since their days of playing backyard cricket.
“We have always been competitive, from a young age.
“My brother was the more competitive one, he always found a way to get the better of me, but doing that helped me to toughen up and vice versa.
“We learnt a great deal from each other growing up, and to go head-to-head in a professional setting like this one was pretty special for both of us,” he said. Jansen said they had chatted about the possible matchups between them before the game, adding that the main objective was to focus on helping the team before any personal rivalries.
“I caught him at gully in the first innings and then nicked him off in the second innings, which was just me doing my job, but it was also a bittersweet moment for me because I always want to see him perform well,” Warriors fast bowler said.
Jansen is looking forward to heading back down under as the Proteas prepare for the upcoming Test series against Australia starting in December.
Jansen is part of the Proteas squad that will face the Aussies in three Test matches between December 17 and January 8 as the men in green and gold look to strengthen their position on the World Test Championships table, where they currently lie in second position on the log.
“I really enjoyed the T20 World Cup trip down under, despite not getting a game,” he said.
“I went into it with the mindset of just going to enjoy the whole experience as it was my first and not put too much pressure on myself, and if I had to get the opportunity to play, just go out and express myself.
“I think the thing that stood out most for me from those conditions was the bounce, there was not much sideways movement, so we will probably discuss plans and all those kinds of things in more detail once we are on the plane to Australia.”