Two left-arm quicks and a pair of openers are the four men in the running to take out the ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year award for 2022. We take a look at their respective breakout years.
Marco Jansen – South Africa
36 Test wickets at 19.02, 229 runs at 22.90 (correct at time of publication)
Two ODI wickets, one T20I wicket
The year that was
Just when we thought South Africa’s bowling attack could not be strengthened, up stepped a 206cm left-arm quick who made an impression of his own.
Jansen’s first nine* Test matches (*including Boxing Day in Australia) have turned heads in the cricket world, and moments with the white ball show there will be little respite for batting line-ups no matter the format.
After a strong Test debut on home soil on Boxing Day 2021, Jansen continued to trouble his opponents no matter where he travelled in 2022. Taking 14 Test wickets in the calendar year in South Africa at just 13.50, Jansen emulated the success on tour in England and Australia, averaging just 13.11 and 13.33 respectively. His nine Test wickets in New Zealand came at a respectable 28.55 to boot, as he contributed with the bat for Dean Elgar’s side.
Jansen made four appearances for South Africa across the two white-ball formats, showing early glimpses of his quality. He claimed Shreyas Iyer in his only T20I, and a pair of wickets in an ODI against Bangladesh.
Memorable performance
Making 30 with the bat in South Africa’s paltry 118 at The Oval, Jansen brought his form into the bowling performance, finishing with a maiden five-wicket haul on a surface historically good for batting.
Jansen made a mess of Alex Lees stumps to start the run, before trapping Zak Crawley plumb lbw in an early double-strike. He claimed Joe Root and Harry Brook when he returned to the bowling crease, before dismissing Ben Foakes for his fifth.
He finished with 5/35 as South Africa hit back in the match, bowling England out for just 158.
Memorable performance
Unflustered by the pressure of an India v Pakistan fixture in a global tournament and in front of over 90,000 people, Arshdeep stood tall on the big stage.
With prodigious swing at pace, Arshdeep removed both members of Pakistan’s prolific opening pair. He claimed Babar Azam with his first ball lbw, before taking the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan at the end of his next over.
Arshdeep returned at the death to curtail Asif Ali’s plans of a late onslaught, finishing with 3/32 from his four-over allotment.
