Lanky Jansen deadpans fine Proteas start and ICC nomination: 'Haven't really thought about it'

Like he has been all his life, Marco Jansen has been so focused on establishing himself as an international cricketer that he hasn't even taken much notice of the ICC award he's up for.

Despite the Proteas' patchy overall form, the lanky 22-year-old has been nominated for the world governing body's Emerging Player of the Year, deserved recognition for a man who's taken to Test cricket like a duck to water.

Jansen finished the 2022's calendar year with an impressive haul of 36 wickets in just eight matches, including a superb 5/35 against England at the cauldron that is The Oval.

South Africa's pronounced struggles on their current tour to Australia - which concludes with the third Test starting in Sydney on Wednesday - haven't deterred him from making his mark.

Jansen took a wicket with his first delivery in Australia in dislodging the prolific Marnus Labuschagne during the first Test in Brisbane - finishing with 3/32 in the process - and then made a career-best 59 in Melbourne in the second Test.

In typically deadpan fashion, he wasted little time reminding everyone that his start to Test cricket, in last year's series against India, started rather inauspiciously.

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"It didn't start great, my first over in Test cricket went for [12]," he said.

"I haven't really thought about it yet or reflected, but it's gone way better than expected. Couldn't have asked for a better start, I guess."

Encouragingly, Jansen's early success hasn't made him any less averse to being a sponge in terms of gaining insights from his more experienced teammates.

In fact, if it hadn't been for a few words of advice from Kagiso Rabada during the Melbourne Test, he