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Boxing Day Test

Coordinates: 37°49′12″S 144°59′00″E / 37.82000°S 144.98333°E / -37.82000; 144.98333
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Boxing Day Test (disambiguation).
Boxing Day Test
The Melbourne Cricket Ground during the first day of the 2015 Boxing Day Test match
StatusActive
GenreSporting event
Begins26 December
EndsOn or before 30 December
FrequencyAnnual
VenueMelbourne Cricket Ground
Location(s)Melbourne, Victoria
CountryAustralia
Inaugurated1968 (1968)

The Boxing Day Test match is a cricket Test match held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, involving the Australian cricket team and an opposing national team that is touring Australia during the southern summer. It begins annually on Boxing Day (26 December) and is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

History

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Cricket crowd at the Boxing Day test in 2007

By long tradition, a Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and New South Wales had been played at the MCG over the Christmas period dating back as far as 1865. [1] It included Boxing Day as one of the scheduled days of play, much to the chagrin of the NSW players who missed spending Christmas with their families as a result. The Melbourne Test was usually held over the New Year period, often starting on 1 January.

During the 1950–51 Ashes series, the Melbourne Test was played from 22 to 27 December, with the fourth day's play being on Boxing Day, but no test matches were played on Boxing Day in Melbourne between 1953 and 1967. Because there were six Tests in the 1974–75 Ashes series, in order to fit them all in to the overall schedule, the Third Test at Melbourne was scheduled to start on Boxing Day.

That was the origin of the modern tradition, although it was not until 1980 that it was formalised by the Australian Cricket Board, alongside the recent acquisition of its television rights by the Nine Network, and Melbourne emphasising its hosting of major sporting events (such as the AFL Grand Final and Australian Open) to offset the decline of its manufacturing industry.[2]

The Boxing Day Test has cultural significance and often draws large crowds,[3] although increased competition from Twenty20 fixtures in the Big Bash League has led to variances in attendance; the MCG hosted its largest Boxing Day crowd in 2013, the fourth Test of the 2013–14 Ashes series against England.[3]

Individual awards

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Since 1975, there has been an official Player of the Match named in each Boxing Day Test. Since 2020, the man of the match has received the Mullagh Medal, named in honour of Indigenous Australian cricketer Johnny Mullagh.[4][5]

List of Boxing Day Test matches

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Year Opposition team Result Boxing Day Crowd Total Attendance Player of the Match - Mullagh Medal
1968  West Indies  Australia won by an innings and 30 runs 18,766 113,376
1974  England Draw 77,167 250,750[6]
1975  West Indies  Australia won by 8 wickets 85,661 222,755[6] Australia Jeff Thomson
1980  New Zealand Draw 28,671 82,745 New Zealand Richard Hadlee
1981  West Indies  Australia won by 58 runs 39,982 134,081[6] Australia Kim Hughes
1982  England  England won by 3 runs 63,900 214,882[6] England Norman Cowans
1983  Pakistan Draw 40,277 111,611[6] Australia Graham Yallop
1985  India Draw 18,146 77,715[6] Australia Allan Border
1986  England  England won by an innings and 14 runs 58,203 107,817[6] England Gladstone Small
1987  New Zealand Draw 51,807 127,184[6] New Zealand Richard Hadlee
1990  England  Australia won by 9 wickets 49,763 129,530[6] Australia Bruce Reid
1991  India  Australia won by 8 wickets 42,494 89,369[6] Australia Bruce Reid
1992  West Indies  Australia won by 139 runs 28,397 83,320[6] Australia Shane Warne
1993  South Africa Draw 15,604[a] 48,565[6] Australia Mark Taylor
1995  Sri Lanka  Australia won by 10 wickets 55,239 105,388[6] Australia Glenn McGrath
1996  West Indies  West Indies won by 6 wickets 72,891 131,671[6] Cricket West Indies Curtly Ambrose
1997  South Africa Draw 73,812 160,182[6] South Africa Jacques Kallis
1998  England  England won by 12 runs 61,580 159,031[6] England Dean Headley
1999  India  Australia won by 180 runs 49,082[a] 134,554[6] India Sachin Tendulkar
2000  West Indies  Australia won by 352 runs 73,233 133,299[6] Australia Steve Waugh
2001  South Africa  Australia won by 9 wickets 61,796 153,025[6] Australia Matthew Hayden
2002  England  Australia won by 5 wickets 64,189[b] 177,658[6] Australia Justin Langer
2003  India  Australia won by 9 wickets 62,613[b] 179,662[6] Australia Ricky Ponting
2004  Pakistan  Australia won by 9 wickets 61,552[b] 129,079[6] Australia Damien Martyn
2005  South Africa  Australia won by 184 runs 71,910[b] 192,338[6] Australia Michael Hussey
2006  England  Australia won by an innings and 99 runs 89,155[7] 244,351[6] Australia Shane Warne
2007  India  Australia won by 337 runs 68,465[8] 166,663[8] Australia Matthew Hayden
2008  South Africa  South Africa won by 9 wickets 63,263[8] 174,246[8] South Africa Dale Steyn
2009  Pakistan  Australia won by 170 runs 59,206[8] 156,267[8] Australia Shane Watson
2010  England  England won by an innings and 157 runs 84,345[8] 240,156[8] England Jonathan Trott
2011  India  Australia won by 122 runs[9] 70,068[8] 189,347[9] Australia James Pattinson
2012  Sri Lanka  Australia won by an innings and 201 runs 67,138[8] 137,455[8] Australia Mitchell Johnson
2013  England  Australia won by 8 wickets 91,112[8] 271,865[8] Australia Mitchell Johnson
2014  India Draw 69,993 194,481 Australia Ryan Harris
2015  West Indies  Australia won by 177 runs 53,389 127,069[10][11][12][13] Australia Nathan Lyon
2016  Pakistan  Australia won by an innings and 18 runs 63,478[a] 142,188[14][15][16][17][18] Australia Steve Smith
2017  England Draw 88,173 261,335 England Alastair Cook
2018  India  India won by 137 runs[19] 73,516 176,539 India Jasprit Bumrah
2019  New Zealand  Australia won by 247 runs 80,473[20] 203,472[21] Australia Travis Head
2020  India  India won by 8 wickets 27,615[c] 89,472[23] India Ajinkya Rahane
2021  England  Australia won by an innings and 14 runs 57,100 140,671 Australia Scott Boland
2022  South Africa  Australia won by an innings and 182 runs 64,876 155,714 Australia David Warner
2023  Pakistan  Australia won by 79 runs 62,167 164,835 Australia Pat Cummins
2024  India
2025  England
2026  New Zealand
  • In 1989, instead of a Test match, a One Day International was held on 26 December at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between Australia and Sri Lanka. Australia won by 30 runs in front of a crowd of 45,012.[24]

Overall Record - Australia vs Visitors

[edit]
Beer cup snake during the 2021 Boxing Day Test
Opposition Team GP W D L Win % Recent Test
 England 11 5 2 4 045.45 Boxing Day 2021
 India 9 5 2 2 055.56 Boxing Day 2020
 New Zealand 3 1 2 0 033.33 Boxing Day 2019
 Pakistan 5 4 1 0 080.00 Boxing Day 2023
 South Africa 6 3 2 1 050.00 Boxing Day 2022
 Sri Lanka 2 2 0 0 100.00 Boxing Day 2012
 West Indies 7 6 0 1 085.71 Boxing Day 2015
Total 43 26 9 8 060.47 Boxing Day 2023

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c It rained on Boxing Day.
  2. ^ a b c d Capacity of ground reduced due to redevelopment for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
  3. ^ A maximum of 30,000 people were allowed to attend each day due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[22]

References

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  1. ^ "Victoria vs New South Wales, 1865-66". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  2. ^ "The surprisingly short history of the Boxing Day Test". ABC News. 24 December 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b Boaz, Judd; Gordon, Oliver (22 December 2021). "Capacity crowds at Boxing Day Test and Australian Open still planned despite Omicron fears". ABC News. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  4. ^ Wales, Sean (9 December 2019). "'You get told about Bradman but not our mob': Test medal to honour Indigenous cricketing icon". ABC News. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  5. ^ "The Indigenous hole at Australian cricket's heart". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x "Records – MCG Test Matches". Melbourne Cricket Ground. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  7. ^ "Melbourne Cricket Ground Attendances". Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Recent MCG Cricket Attendances". Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  9. ^ a b "India tour of Australia, 2011/12 (1st Test)". ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  10. ^ OFFICIAL CROWD FIGURE: 53,389 #AUSvWI twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 29 Dec 2015
  11. ^ Official attendance today: 40,516. #AUSvWI #MCG twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 29 Dec 2015
  12. ^ Official attendance today: 26,003. #AUSvWI #MCG twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 29 Dec 2015
  13. ^ Today's attendance for Day 4 of the Boxing Day Test is 7,161 #AUSvWI twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 29 Dec 2015
  14. ^ @MCG (26 December 2016). "Today's official attendance at the MCG: 63,478. #AusvPak" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ^ @MCG (27 December 2016). "Official Attendance on Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test: 39,339 #AUSvPAK" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ @MCG (28 December 2016). "Official attendance at the 'G for Day 3 of the Test is 25,393 #AUSvPAK" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ @MCG (29 December 2016). "For those playing at home, the official attendance for today was 7789. #AusvPak" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ^ @MCG (30 December 2016). "@ozrobbo: It was 6189" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. ^ "Australia vs India, 3rd Test - India in Aus 2018-19". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  20. ^ "Boxing Day Test: 80,000 fans turn up in record attendance at Melbourne". Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  21. ^ "2nd Test: Australia d New Zealand (d4)". austadiums.com. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  22. ^ "Boxing Day Test attendance increased". Melbourne Cricket Club. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  23. ^ "Cricket Results & Crowds". austadiums.com. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  24. ^ "Australia vs Sri Lanka, 1st Match - Benson & Hedges World Series 1989-90". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
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37°49′12″S 144°59′00″E / 37.82000°S 144.98333°E / -37.82000; 144.98333

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