Marco Jansen Named ICC Men’s Player of the Month for October 2026

South African Star all-rounder Marco Jansen has been awarded with the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for the month of October 2026 after playing a key role in the Proteas 2-1 Test series victory against the Australia in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).

Marco Jansen’s performance in October 2026

Jansen delivered the incredible all-round performance in South Africa’s three-match Test series against the Australia.

The 26-year-old scored 198 runs and took 13 wickets with his left-arm pace.

He played a vital role with;

• 85 runs in the first innings of the Second Test at Gqeberha and took 6 wickets (5/33 and 1/34).
• A half century in the Third Test and took 3 wickets to help South Africa win the series.
• South Africa turned things around to win the series 2-1 after being down 1-0.

The Second Test saw Jansen play a key role to help South Africa win by an innings and 31 runs to level the series. In the decider, Jansen played a vital role.

ICC Men’s Player of the Month – October 2026

Jansen won the award ahead of,

Player	Country	Performance in October
Marco Jansen	South Africa	198 runs, 13 wickets (3 Tests)
Arafat Minhas	Pakistan	149 runs, 9 wickets (5 ODIs)
Shai Hope	West Indies	423 runs (6 Matches)

Arafat Minhas played incredibly well in Pakistan’s ODI tri-series win and Shai Hope had many match winning performances against India.

Jansen moves to the top of the ICC Test Rankings

Jansen’s performances throughout the month helped him to climb to the top of two ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings,

Test Bowler Rankings – Jansen became the first South African bowler to reach the top spot since Kagiso Rabada in 2024.

Test All Rounder Rankings – Jansen became the first South African to reach the top spot since Vernon Philander in August 2014.

This shows just how important he is becoming in South Africa’s Test side.

South Africa in the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27

South Africa’s 2-1 series win against Australia helped them move up the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 table.

After the series, South Africa are now sitting in second place with 60 points (71.43%) from their seven Tests. New Zealand are currently in first place (72.22%).