Sports Desk

AUS v ENG, Ashes 2017: History Behind Boxing Day Test Match

Tomorrow, Australia will take on England in Boxing Day Test Match and fourth of the series. Australia have already won the series and has unassailable lead of 3-0. Team England will step in the filed fighting for their pride. Here is the history behind the Boxing Day Test Match

What is Boxing Day?

Boxing Day is a festival celebrated on the day after Christmas Day. It originated in the United Kingdom, and is celebrated in few countries, mainly connected to United Kingdom (such as Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand) and in some of the European Countries. December 26th, is Boxing Day and is a holiday celebrated among these countries.

A ‘Christmas Box’ in Britain is a name for a Christmas present. Boxing Day was traditionally a day off for servants and the day when they received a ‘Christmas Box’ from the master. The servants would also go home on Boxing Day to give ‘Christmas Boxes’ to their families.

Boxing Day Test Match

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

By prolonged convention, 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 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.

[Source: WIKIPEDIA]

List of Boxing Day Test matches

Year Opp Result
1950 ENG AUS won by 28 runs
1952 SA SA won by 82 runs
1968 WI AUS won by an innings and 30 runs
1974 ENG Draw
1975 WI AUS won by 8 wickets
1980 NZ Draw
1981 WI AUS won by 58 runs
1982 ENG ENG won by 3 runs
1983 PAK Draw
1984 WI Draw
1985 IND Draw
1986 ENG ENG won by an innings and 14 runs
1987 NZ Draw
1988 WI WI won by 258 runs
1990 ENG AUS won by 9 wickets
1991 IND AUS won by 8 wickets
1992 WI AUS won by 139 runs
1993 SA Draw
1994 ENG AUS won by 295 runs
1995 SL AUS won by 10 wickets
1996 WI WI won by 6 wickets
1997 SA Draw
1998 ENG AUS won by 12 runs
1999 IND AUS won by 180 runs
2000 WI AUS won by 352 runs
2001 SA AUS won by 9 wickets
2002 ENG AUS won by 5 wickets
2003 IND AUS won by 9 wickets
2004 PAK AUS won by 9 wickets
2005 SA AUS won by 184 runs
2006 ENG AUS won by an innings and 99 runs
2007 IND AUS won by 337 runs
2008 SA SA won by 9 wickets
2009 PAK AUS won by 170 runs
2010 ENG ENG won by an innings and 157 runs
2011  India AUS won by 122 runs
2012 SL AUS won by an innings and 201 runs
2013 ENG AUS won by 8 wickets
2014 IND Draw
2015 WI AUS won by 177 runs
2016 PAK AUS won by an innings and 18 runs
2017 ENG  Yet to be Played

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