Boxing Day Test
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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 which is touring Australia that summer. It begins annually on Boxing Day (26 December) and is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Every four years, the Boxing Day Test forms part of the five-match Ashes series with England.
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Boxingaday.jpg/250px-Boxingaday.jpg)
By long tradition, a Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and New South Wales had been played at the MCG over the Christmas period. 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 third 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 wasn't 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.
Boxing Day One Day International Cricket
In 1989, instead of a Test match, a One Day International involving Australia and Sri Lanka was played, which Australia won by 30 runs.[1]
List of Boxing Day Test matches
Year | Opposition team | Result | Boxing Day Crowd | Total Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|
1950[2] | ![]() |
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60,486[4] | 191,197[4] |
1952[5] | ![]() |
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24,609 | 120,314[4] |
1968 | ![]() |
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18,766 | 113,376 |
1974 | ![]() |
Draw | 77,167 | 250,750[4] |
1975 | ![]() |
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85,661 | 222,755[4] |
1980 | ![]() |
Draw | 28,671 | 82,745 |
1981 | ![]() |
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39,982 | 134,081[4] |
1982 | ![]() |
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63,900 | 214,882[4] |
1983 | ![]() |
Draw | 40,277 | 111,611[4] |
1984[6] | ![]() |
Draw | 15,504 (25,555 Day 1) | 97,271[4] |
1985 | ![]() |
Draw | 18,146 | 77,715[4] |
1986 | ![]() |
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58,203 | 107,817[4] |
1987 | ![]() |
Draw | 51,807 | 127,184[4] |
1988[5] | ![]() |
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26,287 | 108,408[4] |
1990 | ![]() |
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49,763 | 129,530[4] |
1991 | ![]() |
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42,494 | 89,369[4] |
1992 | ![]() |
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28,397 | 83,320[4] |
1993 | ![]() |
Draw | 15,604 (rain) | 48,565[4] |
1994[5] | ![]() |
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51,620 | 144,492[4] |
1995 | ![]() |
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55,239 | 105,388[4] |
1996 | ![]() |
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72,891 | 131,671[4] |
1997 | ![]() |
Draw | 73,812 | 160,182[4] |
1998 | ![]() |
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61,580 | 159,031[4] |
1999 | ![]() |
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49,082 (rain) | 134,554[4] |
2000 | ![]() |
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73,233 | 133,299[4] |
2001 | ![]() |
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61,796 | 153,025[4] |
2002 | ![]() |
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64,189 | 177,658[4] |
2003 | ![]() |
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62,613 | 179,662[4] |
2004 | ![]() |
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61,552 | 129,079[4] |
2005 | ![]() |
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71,910 | 192,337[4] |
2006 | ![]() |
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89,155[7] | 244,351[4] |
2007 | ![]() |
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68,465[8] | 166,663[8] |
2008 | ![]() |
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63,263[8] | 174,246[8] |
2009 | ![]() |
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59,206[8] | 156,267[8] |
2010 | ![]() |
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84,345[8] | 240,156[8] |
2011 | ![]() |
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70,068[8] | 189,347[9] |
2012 | ![]() |
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67,138[8] | 137,455[8] |
2013 | ![]() |
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91,112[8] | 271,865[8] |
2014 | ![]() |
Draw | 69,993 | 194,481 |
2015 | ![]() |
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53,389 | 127,069[10][11][12][13] |
2016 | ![]() |
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2017 | ![]() |
Other Boxing Day Tests
In New Zealand an annual Boxing Day Test Match was played at Basin Reserve in Wellington, involving the New Zealand cricket team as one of the competing sides. Over the past few years the Boxing day Test has been phased out for a One Day International and Twenty20 matches involving New Zealand and the touring opposition national team. It has been announced that in 2013 the Boxing Day Tests will be returning with the West Indies playing at Basin Reserve.
In South Africa a Boxing Day Test is often played if another national team is touring to play the South African cricket team. It is traditionally played at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead, Durban.
References
- ^ ODI # 596 Benson & Hedges World Series, 1989/90, 1st Match, Australia v Sri Lanka
- ^ Boxing Day was the third day of the test match.
- ^ "2nd Test: Australia v. England 1950". ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad "Records – MCG Test Matches". Melbourne Cricket Ground. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
- ^ a b c Boxing Day was the second day of the test match.
- ^ Boxing Day was the fourth day of the test match.
- ^ "Melbourne Cricket Ground Attendances". Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Recent MCG Cricket Attendances". Retrieved 3 January 2012.
- ^ a b "India tour of Australia, 2011/12 (1st Test)". ESPN EMEA Ltd. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
- ^ OFFICIAL CROWD FIGURE: 53,389 #AUSvWI twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 29 Dec, 2015
- ^ Official attendance today: 40,516. #AUSvWI #MCG twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 29 Dec, 2015
- ^ Official attendance today: 26,003. #AUSvWI #MCG twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 29 Dec, 2015
- ^ Today's attendance for Day 4 of the Boxing Day Test is 7,161 #AUSvWI twitter.com/MCG. Retrieved on 29 Dec, 2015