Melbourne: In Australia, the Test match played every year on 26 December is recognized as Boxing Day. This Test match, which starts on 26th December, the day after Christmas, is an important part of the tradition of Australian cricket, the history behind which is quite special. During Christmas, people in Australia are on a long holiday, in which according to Christian society traditions, everyone gives gifts to each other, which are opened the next day i.e. 26 December, due to which it is also recognized as Boxing Day.
The word Boxing Day was introduced in cricket in the year 1892.
In the year 1892, when the domestic season was being played in Australian cricket, matches were also played on the day after Christmas and that is when the word Boxing Day entered cricket. If we talk about international cricket, the first Boxing Day Test match was played between Australia and England in the year 1950. At the same time, with the Ashes series played in the year 1974-75, Cricket Australia started the tradition of playing in the Boxing-Day Test match in which the first day of the match is played on 26 December, and this match was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Since then, the Boxing Day Test is played every time on this historic ground of Melbourne, the main reason behind which is the seating capacity of the spectators here, in which around one lakh people can enjoy the match in the stadium.
Australia’s record in Boxing Day Test has been excellent so far
If we look at the record of the Australian team in the Boxing Day Test, it looks quite impressive. If we look at the record of the Australian team at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, they have played 117 matches here so far, out of which they have won 68 matches, while they have faced defeat in 32 matches. Apart from this, if we look at Australia’s record at MCG since 2000, they have played 25 matches and won 19 of them, losing only 4 matches. Out of these, they had lost against India in 2 matches.
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