It’s the one day of the year synonymous with Test cricket and this year’s Boxing Day clash between Australia and India at the MCG could prove another classic.
Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Sam Konstas, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Yashasvi Jaiswal should all have plenty to say about a series level at 1-1.
Depending on how you read the record books, this year could be viewed as marking 50 years of the Boxing Day Test. In 1968, Australia took on a West Indies side led by Sir Garfield Sobers, helped to victory by Bill Lawry (205) and Ian Chappell (165).
In 1974, the Australian Cricket Board (now Cricket Australia) needed to squeeze six Ashes Tests into a crowded calendar and Boxing Day at the MCG began in earnest, drawing strong crowds. The next year’s edition attracted 85,661 fans as Australia beat the West Indies.
Then came a five-year break before the tradition was formalised in 1980 with a drawn third Test against New Zealand. It has flourished since.
It is a day when the last of the roast meat is carved and much of Australia sits down to watch some of the best theatre cricket can offer. Here are 11 of the great MCG moments.
Binga’s bonanza
Australia v India 1999
Brett Lee 5-47 on debut
Walking out onto the MCG turf in a stiff, new baggy green and an oversized sweater, the young NSW quick looked nervous but quickly made himself at home in the Test arena.
With his fourth delivery as an international cricketer, the 23-year-old bowled Indian opener Sadagoppan Ramesh.
His second wicket came after lunch, claiming India’s No.3 Rahul Dravid – “The Wall” was unable to deal with Lee’s pace.
The third wicket was an in-swinging yorker that Lee would enjoy plenty of success with throughout his career and it bamboozled MSK Prasad.
The next two wickets of Ajit Agarkar (lbw) and current ICC match referee Javagal Srinath (caught second slip) completed one of Australia’s most exciting bowling debuts.
Courage under fire
Australia v West Indies 1981
Kim Hughes scores an unbeaten 100
Hughes arrived at the crease with his country 3-8 and struggling to deal with a brilliant West Indian attack on an unpredictable MCG wicket.
Speaking to ESPN’s Cricinfo, Ian Chappell talked about the courage Hughes showed to take on the West Indies’ famed “four horsemen” bowling lineup of Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft and Andy Roberts.
Kim Hughes and Greg Chappell celebrating a win in 1981Credit: Fairfax
“He took the West Indian quicks on, he pulled them and hooked them,” Chappell said.
“It was an innings of great bravery. It takes a lot of mental fortitude to take the bowlers on [on a pitch like the one that Hughes faced].”
Hughes was helped by No.11 Terry Alderman, who lasted long enough to help form a 43-run partnership that took Hughes to a brave century. He utilised some intelligent batting off the backfoot that had been honed back home at the WACA ground in Perth.
Tendulkar’s masterful century
Australia v India 1999
Tendulkar a shining light in Indian batting collapse
Sachin Tendulkar scored 51 centuries in his Test career, but former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist believed his 116 on Boxing Day 1999 was one of the best.
Tendulkar dealt with a difficult wicket and the rest of his batting order crumbling around him as the tourists replied to Australia’s first innings score of 405. Gilchrist saw a master batsman calmly going about his work in spite of the chaos unfolding around him.
“The 1999 Boxing Day Test when he scored 100 when the others failed to sort the difficult conditions, that was a sign to me that this guy was truly class,” Gilchrist told the Times of India in 2013.
Despite top-scoring for India with 52 in the second innings, India lost to Australia by 180 runs.
Last-minute selection shines
Australia v England 1986
Late inclusion Gladstone Small has a day to remember
England bowler Gladstone Small woke up on Boxing Day in 1986 ready for a leisurely day of watching his teammates at the MCG from the stands in the fourth Test, having not been picked yet in the series.
Half an hour before the start of the game, fast bowler Graham Dilley withdrew from the team with a knee injury, leaving Small just enough time to warm up.
Some six hours later, Small had taken 5-48 as Australia were bowled out for 141 on day one.
England sealed the Test after tea on day three, winning by an innings and 14 runs, and Small, in just his third Test, was named man of the match.
Muralitharan’s throwing controversy
Australia v Sri Lanka 1995
Umpire Darrell Hair calls Sri Lanka star for throwing seven times
Muttiah Muralitharan holds the record for the most Test wickets with 800, but will also always be remembered on Boxing Day in Australia after umpire Darrell Hair’s decision to call him seven times for throwing in the space of three overs.
Australia won the Boxing Day Test in 1995 by 10 wickets, but the result became a footnote in one of the most discussed incidents in Test cricket.
After becoming frustrated with Hair’s decisions, Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga switched Muralitharan to the other end, where New Zealand umpire Steve Dunne allowed the off-spinner to complete the rest of the innings without being called for throwing once.
Ponting and Sehwag masterclasses
Australia v India 2003
Ricky Ponting and Virender Sehwag post 257 and 195
Virender Sehwag’s 195 on Boxing Day is still considered one of the finest innings by any visiting batsman in Australia. He treated the Australian bowling attack led by Brett Lee with contempt, hitting 25 fours and five sixes in a brilliant performance.
The MCG crowd was then treated to another piece of batting excellence, with Ricky Ponting responding to Sehwag’s example by scoring 257 alongside Matthew Hayden’s 136 to set up the platform for a nine-wicket victory.
Last-day Ashes drama
Australia v England 1982
England break Aussie hearts with three-run victory
In Test cricket, as in life, often it is the illusion of hope that can hurt the most. Australia looked like they were finished on 9-255 as they finished day four, but Allan Border and Jeff Thomson had other ideas. The two men put together a 70-run last-wicket partnership to the delight of 18,000 fans who had arrived at the MCG with little idea of what was about to happen.
Sadly, Thompson’s brave innings came to an end after edging Ian Botham’s delivery to the slips where it was gratefully caught, on a second-chance grab, by Geoff Miller.
Allan Border and Jeff Thompson share a joke the day after their heroic stand that fell just short of giving Australia an unlikely victoryCredit: Fairfax
Warne’s record-breaking 700th wicket
Australia v England 2006
Shane Warne enjoyed a special relationship with the Boxing Day Test, often doing some of his best work in his home city. In 1992 against the West Indies, Warne gave us the first look at the flipper and enjoyed a memorable hat trick in 1994 against England, but it was in 2006, that he wrote his name in the history books with his 700th Test wicket.
Warne took 5-39 to help Australia sweep England by 5-0 and close the chapter on his love affair with Boxing Day.
Cult hero reigns in Melbourne
Australia v England 2021
Scott Boland makes brilliant debut
After the recent news of Josh Hazlewood’s injury, Scott Boland will be out to shine at the MCG in another Boxing Day Test against India after an outstanding Test debut three years earlier.
At 32, and just expected to find his feet in the Test arena, Boland took six wickets in just 21 balls to rip through a bewildered England batting lineup bowled out for 68.
His captain Pat Cummins knew the bowler was special and could deliver on his home wicket.
“It wasn’t overly surprising,” said Cummins. “He did what the selectors picked him for. We knew he was going to do a great job for us on the MCG. Well, maybe not 6/7.”
Ali’s unbeaten 205 is not enough
Australia v Pakistan 2016
Azhar Ali stands up for Pakistan in defeat
Former Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali’s international career lasted 12 years, but his performance on Boxing Day in Melbourne remains a high point.
The opener had scored the highest total of his career two months before with 302 against the West Indies in Dubai and then managed an unbeaten 205 against Australia.
Ali’s work helped Pakistan to a first-innings total of 443, but Australia responded with 624, with David Warner scoring 144, Steve Smith 165 and Mitchell Starc 84. Pakistan crumbled in their second innings (all out for 163), losing the match by an innings.
Pakistan’s Azhar Ali celebrates his century at the MCG during the Boxing Day Test.Credit: AFP
England savour unlikely Boxing Day victory
Australia v England 1998
Dean Headley gives Barmy Army something to shout about
The 1998 Ashes series was not a happy hunting ground for an England team who huffed and puffed to a 3-1 defeat, but their fourth Test dead-rubber victory spearheaded by bowler Dean Headley’s career-best performance gave travelling supporters something to cheer about.
The bowler took 6-60 after Australia collapsed while chasing 175 and eventually losing by 12 runs in a shock defeat.
