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 |
