Boxing Day Test

The match itself

A Boxing Day Test is a Test match, the longest form of international cricket, lasting up to five days. It is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between the Australian team and whichever national side is touring Australia that southern summer. Play starts on the morning of 26 December, the day after Christmas, when many spectators are free to attend. The game sits in the middle of the Australian summer calendar. When the match ends, an official player of the match is named for that game.

Origins and history

Melbourne's ground had staged an interstate Sheffield Shield fixture at Christmas for a long time, at least as far back as 1865, and Boxing Day was one of its playing days. New South Wales players disliked being away from their families over Christmas. Melbourne's Test match usually sat in the New Year period instead, often beginning on 1 January. A Melbourne Test in the 1950 to 1951 Ashes series ran from 22 to 27 December, so its fourth day fell on Boxing Day, and no Boxing Day Test followed in Melbourne between 1953 and 1967. Records date the first Boxing Day Test to 1968.

How the date was fixed

When the 1974 to 1975 Ashes series included six Tests, the schedule had to be squeezed, and the third match, in Melbourne, was set to begin on Boxing Day. The sources describe that decision as the start of the modern tradition. It became official only in 1980, when the Australian Cricket Board formalised the arrangement. Around the same time the Nine Network bought the television rights, and Melbourne was promoting itself as a host of big sporting occasions such as the AFL Grand Final and the Australian Open, as its manufacturing industry declined.

Awards and crowds

Since 1975 each Boxing Day Test has produced an official player of the match. From 2020 that player has received the Mullagh Medal, named for Johnny Mullagh, an Indigenous Australian cricketer. The fixture carries cultural weight in Australia and usually attracts a large crowd, though numbers vary now that Twenty20 games in the Big Bash League compete for the same audience. The ground's biggest Boxing Day crowd came in 2025, when England toured for the Ashes. Once, in 1989, a one-day international between Australia and Sri Lanka took the date instead; Australia won by 30 runs in front of 45,012 people.

How Boxing Day Test is kept

Australia's national team and a touring national side take the field at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the morning of 26 December. The match follows the ordinary shape of a Test: two innings for each side, spread across as many as five days. Spectators arrive from early on the first morning, which usually draws the largest attendance of the match. At the end, an official player of the match is named; since 2020 that player receives the Mullagh Medal. The game finishes when one side wins or when play closes on or before 30 December.

When and where

Play starts on 26 December, Boxing Day, each year, and is scheduled to end on or before 30 December. That date is the day after Christmas. It falls in the southern summer, which is Australia's main cricket season, so a touring side is already in the country.

The match belongs to Melbourne, in the state of Victoria, Australia, and takes place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Crowds there have watched it since the 1960s and 1970s. The sources also point to separate Boxing Day Test pages for South Africa and New Zealand.

What Boxing Day Test means

For Australian cricket followers, the day after Christmas is bound up with the Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A large crowd filling the stands on 26 December has become part of the Australian summer. The Mullagh Medal adds another layer of meaning: it carries the name of Johnny Mullagh, an Indigenous Australian cricketer, so the award connects the fixture to Indigenous sporting history.

Questions people ask about Boxing Day Test

See also

Surf lifesavingA volunteer beach rescue and ocean sports tradition originating on Australian coasts.Australian rules footballA fast, high-scoring code of football with 18 players a side, first played in MelbournePub quizA weekly social trivia game played by teams at tables in pubs and barsGood FridayA solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.

Good reading and sources

• Boxing Day Test: Over 80,000 fans turn up in record attendanceThe Hindu, Article
• 'You get told about Bradman but not our mob': Test medal to honour Indigenous cricketing iconABC News Australia, Article
• Boxing Day Test: Over 80,000 fans turn up in record attendanceThe Hindu, Article
• 'You get told about Bradman but not our mob': Test medal to honour Indigenous cricketing iconABC News Australia, Article

• Boxing Day Test on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.