Boxing Day Test facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Boxing Day Test
The Melbourne Cricket Ground during the first day of the 2015 Boxing Day Test match
Status	Active
Genre	Sporting event
Begins	26 December
Ends	On or before 30 December
Frequency	Annual
Venue	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Location(s)	Melbourne, Victoria
Country	Australia
Inaugurated	1950 (1950)

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

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. 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.

The Boxing Day Test has cultural significance, often drawing large crowds, being a tradition for some to attend each year. During the match, crowd activities include waves, chanting (often with trumpets or drums), and beer cup snakes/stacking.

Beer cup snake during the 2021 Boxing Day Test

Individual awards

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.

List of Boxing Day Test matches

Year	Opposition team	Result	Boxing Day Crowd	Total Attendance	Player of the Match
1950	England	Australia won by 28 runs	60,486	191,197
1952	South Africa	South Africa won by 82 runs	24,609	120,314
1968	West Indies	Australia won by an innings and 30 runs	18,766	113,376
1974	England	Draw	77,167	250,750
1975	West Indies	Australia won by 8 wickets	85,661	222,755	Jeff Thomson
1980	New Zealand	Draw	28,671	82,745	Richard Hadlee
1981	West Indies	Australia won by 58 runs	39,982	134,081	Kim Hughes
1982	England	England won by 3 runs	63,900	214,882	Normal Cowans
1983	Pakistan	Draw	40,277	111,611	Graham Yallop
1984	West Indies	Draw	15,504 (25,555 Day 1)	97,271	Andrew Hilditch
1985	India	Draw	18,146	77,715	Allan Border
1986	England	England won by an innings and 14 runs	58,203	107,817	Gladstone Small
1987	New Zealand	Draw	51,807	127,184	Richard Hadlee
1988	West Indies	West Indies won by 258 runs	26,287	108,408	Curtly Ambrose
1990	England	Australia won by 9 wickets	49,763	129,530	Bruce Reid
1991	India	Australia won by 8 wickets	42,494	89,369	Bruce Reid
1992	West Indies	Australia won by 139 runs	28,397	83,320	Shane Warne
1993	South Africa	Draw	15,604	48,565	Mark Taylor
1994	England	Australia won by 295 runs	51,620	144,492	Craig McDermott
1995	Sri Lanka	Australia won by 10 wickets	55,239	105,388	Glenn McGrath
1996	West Indies	West Indies won by 6 wickets	72,891	131,671	Curtly Ambrose
1997	South Africa	Draw	73,812	160,182	Jacques Kallis
1998	England	England won by 12 runs	61,580	159,031	Dean Headley
1999	India	Australia won by 180 runs	49,082	134,554	Sachin Tendulkar
2000	West Indies	Australia won by 352 runs	73,233	133,299	Steve Waugh
2001	South Africa	Australia won by 9 wickets	61,796	153,025	Matthew Hayden
2002	England	Australia won by 5 wickets	64,189	177,658	Justin Langer
2003	India	Australia won by 9 wickets	62,613	179,662	Ricky Ponting
2004	Pakistan	Australia won by 9 wickets	61,552	129,079	Damien Martyn
2005	South Africa	Australia won by 184 runs	71,910	192,337	Michael Hussey
2006	England	Australia won by an innings and 99 runs	89,155	244,351	Shane Warne
2007	India	Australia won by 337 runs	68,465	166,663	Matthew Hayden
2008	South Africa	South Africa won by 9 wickets	63,263	174,246	Dale Steyn
2009	Pakistan	Australia won by 170 runs	59,206	156,267	Shane Watson
2010	England	England won by an innings and 157 runs	84,345	240,156	Jonathan Trott
2011	India	Australia won by 122 runs	70,068	189,347	James Pattinson
2012	Sri Lanka	Australia won by an innings and 201 runs	67,138	137,455	Mitchell Johnson
2013	England	Australia won by 8 wickets	91,112	271,865	Mitchell Johnson
2014	India	Draw	69,993	194,481	Ryan Harris
2015	West Indies	Australia won by 177 runs	53,389	127,069	Nathan Lyon
2016	Pakistan	Australia won by an innings and 18 runs	63,478	142,188	Steve Smith
2017	England	Draw	88,173	261,335	Alastair Cook
2018	India	India won by 137 runs	73,516	176,539	Jasprit Bumrah
2019	New Zealand	Australia won by 247 runs	80,473	203,472	Travis Head
2020	India	India won by 8 wickets	27,615	89,472	Ajinkya Rahane
2021	England	Australia won by an innings and 14 runs	57,100	140,671	Scott Boland
2022	South Africa
2023	Pakistan
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.

See also

• Mullagh Medal