Status active Date(s) December–January Inaugurated 1950 (1950) | Genre sporting event Frequency annual | |
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Location(s) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | ||
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 during the southern summer. It begins annually on Boxing Day (26 December) and is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Contents
History
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 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.
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.
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. In 2013 the Boxing Day Tests returned 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.