Boxing Day Test

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).

Boxing Day Test
The Melbourne Cricket Ground during the first day of the 2015 Boxing Day Test match
StatusActive
GenreSporting event
Begins26 December
Ends30 December
FrequencyAnnual
VenueMelbourne Cricket Ground
Location(s)Melbourne, Victoria
CountryAustralia
Inaugurated1950 (1950)

History
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 the Melbourne Cricket Club and the Australian cricket team secured the rights to begin a test match annually on Boxing Day at the MCG.

Individual awards
Main article: Mullagh Medal

In December 2019, Cricket Australia announced plans for a medal to be awarded to the best player of the Boxing Day Test match from 2020, named in honour of Indigenous Australian cricketer Johnny Mullagh.[2][3]

List of Boxing Day Test matches
Year Opposition team Result Boxing Day Crowd Total Attendance
1950[4]  England  Australia won by 28 runs[5] 60,486[6] 191,197[6]
1952[7]  South Africa  South Africa won by 82 runs 24,609 120,314[6]
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]
1980  New Zealand Draw 28,671 82,745
1981  West Indies  Australia won by 58 runs 39,982 134,081[6]
1982  England  England won by 3 runs 63,900 214,882[6]
1983  Pakistan Draw 40,277 111,611[6]
1984[8]  West Indies Draw 15,504 (25,555 Day 1) 97,271[6]
1985  India Draw 18,146 77,715[6]
1986  England  England won by an innings and 14 runs 58,203 107,817[6]
1987  New Zealand Draw 51,807 127,184[6]
1988[7]  West Indies  West Indies won by 258 runs 26,287 108,408[6]
1990  England  Australia won by 9 wickets 49,763 129,530[6]
1991  India  Australia won by 8 wickets 42,494 89,369[6]
1992  West Indies  Australia won by 139 runs 28,397 83,320[6]
1993  South Africa Draw 15,604[n 1] 48,565[6]
1994[7]  England  Australia won by 295 runs 51,620 144,492[6]
1995  Sri Lanka  Australia won by 10 wickets 55,239 105,388[6]
1996  West Indies  West Indies won by 6 wickets 72,891 131,671[6]
1997  South Africa Draw 73,812 160,182[6]
1998  England  England won by 12 runs 61,580 159,031[6]
1999  India  Australia won by 180 runs 49,082[n 1] 134,554[6]
2000  West Indies  Australia won by 352 runs 73,233 133,299[6]
2001  South Africa  Australia won by 9 wickets 61,796 153,025[6]
2002  England  Australia won by 5 wickets 64,189 177,658[6]
2003  India  Australia won by 9 wickets 62,613 179,662[6]
2004  Pakistan  Australia won by 9 wickets 61,552 129,079[6]
2005  South Africa  Australia won by 184 runs 71,910 192,337[6]
2006  England  Australia won by an innings and 99 runs 89,155[9] 244,351[6]
2007  India  Australia won by 337 runs 68,465[10] 166,663[10]
2008  South Africa  South Africa won by 9 wickets 63,263[10] 174,246[10]
2009  Pakistan  Australia won by 170 runs 59,206[10] 156,267[10]
2010  England  England won by an innings and 157 runs 84,345[10] 240,156[10]
2011  India  Australia won by 122 runs[11] 70,068[10] 189,347[11]
2012  Sri Lanka  Australia won by an innings and 201 runs 67,138[10] 137,455[10]
2013  England  Australia won by 8 wickets 91,112[10] 271,865[10]
2014  India Draw 69,993 194,481
2015  West Indies  Australia won by 177 runs 53,389 127,069[12][13][14][15]
2016  Pakistan  Australia won by an innings and 18 runs 63,478[n 1] 142,188[16][17][18][19][20]
2017  England Draw 88,173 261,335
2018  India  India won by 137 runs[21] 73,516 176,539
2019  New Zealand  Australia won by 247 runs 80,473[22] 203,472[23]
2020  India  India won by 8 wickets 27,615[n 2][24] 89,472[25]
2021  England
2022  South Africa
2023  Pakistan

Instead of a Test match a One Day International was held on 26 December 1989 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between Australia and Sri Lanka. Australia won by 30 runs in front of a crowd of 45,012. [26]

See also

References
  1. "Victoria vs New South Wales, 1865-66". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  2. 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.
  3. "The Indigenous hole at Australian cricket's heart". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  4. Boxing Day was the third day of the Test match.
  5. "2nd Test: Australia v. England 1950". ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  6. "Records – MCG Test Matches". Melbourne Cricket Ground. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  7. Boxing Day was the second day of the Test match.
  8. Boxing Day was the fourth day of the test match.
  9. "Melbourne Cricket Ground Attendances". Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
  10. "Recent MCG Cricket Attendances". Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  11. "India tour of Australia, 2011/12 (1st Test)". ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  12. OFFICIAL CROWD FIGURE: 53,389 #AUSvWI twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 29 Dec 2015
  13. Official attendance today: 40,516. #AUSvWI #MCG twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 29 Dec 2015
  14. Official attendance today: 26,003. #AUSvWI #MCG twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 29 Dec 2015
  15. Today's attendance for Day 4 of the Boxing Day Test is 7,161 #AUSvWI twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 29 Dec 2015
  16. Today's official attendance at the MCG: 63,478. #AusvPak twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 30 Dec 2016
  17. Official Attendance on Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test: 39,339 #AUSvPAK twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 30 Dec 2016
  18. Official attendance at the 'G for Day 3 of the Test is 25,393 #AUSvPAK twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 30 Dec 2016
  19. For those playing at home, the official attendance for today was 7789. #AusvPak twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 30 Dec 2016
  20. @ozrobbo: It was 6189. twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 30 Dec 2016
  21. "Australia vs India, 3rd Test - India in Aus 2018-19". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  22. "Boxing Day Test: 80,000 fans turn up in record attendance at Melbourne". Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  23. "2nd Test: Australia d New Zealand (d4)". austadiums.com. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  24. "Boxing Day Test attendance increased". Melbourne Cricket Club. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  25. "Cricket Results & Crowds". austadiums.com. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  26. "Australia vs Sri Lanka, 1st Match - Benson & Hedges World Series 1989-90". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 January 2021.

Notes
  1. It rained on the Boxing Day.
  2. A maximum of 30,000 people were allowed to attend each day due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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