Most memorable Boxing Day Test matches

A staple of the Australian cricketing calendar, the Boxing Day Test is traditionally associated with Australia playing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Dating back to 1950, the Boxing Day Test has become a routine for other countries in the Southern Hemisphere with the likes of South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and India all hosting matches on the second day of Christmastide.

We look back on some of the most memorable Boxing Day Test matches.

Australia v England - 2010

England won by an innings and 157 runs

In arguably one of England's greatest overseas Test victories, Andrew Strauss and his Three Lions team retained the Ashes Down Under for the first time in 24 years after inflicting one of Australia's heaviest losses.

The Aussies were all out for 98 in the first innings as James Anderson and Chris Tremlett ripped through the batting order before Jonathan Trott put up 168 as England powered to a mammoth 513 total.

Shane Watson and Phillip Hughes made a promising start in their rescue act, but Watson's dismissal sparked an Australia collapse before Tim Bresnan's fourth wicket rounded off an emphatic triumph for England and condemned the hosts to their worst Ashes defeat in 54 years.

Australia v England - 1994

Australia won by 295 runs

The magnificence of Shane Warne was always going to feature at some stage of this article and where better to start than his phenomenal hat-trick against England in 1994.

Wicketless for the innings and with the visitors battling to salvage the Test, Warne bowled Phil DeFreitas lbw before Darren Gough edged Warne's next ball into the hands of Ian Healy.

Devon Malcolm stepped out to the crease aiming to weather the storm but went out of the furnace and into the fire.

It required a sensational, gravity-defying catch from David Boon to seal the treble, but Warne had the first hat-trick in an Ashes match for over 90 years.

Australia v England - 2006

Australia won by an innings and 99 runs

Sticking with the Warne trend, a near-record crowd of 89,155 witnessed the Aussie legend become the first bowler to claim 700 Test wickets as he dismissed Andrew Strauss on Boxing Day in 2006.

He went on to claim his 37th and final five-wicket haul on his concluding appearance at the MCG as Australia rampaged to victory with two whole days of the Test to spare.

The hosts would ultimately seal an extraordinary 5-0 series whitewash over England, with Warne eventually bowing out on 708 wickets in 145 Tests.

Australia v India - 2003

Australia won by 9 wickets

Virender Sehwag stole the headlines during the first innings as he carried India to a score of 336, of which he contributed a superb 195.

The visitors made an early breakthrough with the dismissal of Justin Langer, but what they didn't anticipate was a formidable second wicket partnership between Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting.

Ponting was at the forefront of a majestic Australia victory, putting up a gargantuan 257 - his highest score in Test cricket - and tallying his third double century of the year, a feat previously achieved by Don Bradman.

Australia v India - 2020

India won by 8 wickets

All out for a record-low 36 in Adelaide a week prior and without star captain Virat Kohli after he opted to return home, India recovered from their horror start in the Border-Gavaskar series to seal one of their greatest victories in the 2020 Boxing Day Test.

Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahana marshalled the visitors superbly, delivering a 12th Test century before the bowlers took control of the contest, rolling Australia for 195.

Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj continued to dominate Australia's batting order and despite a brief wobble in their miniscule ran chase, India got the job done in the 16th over of the second innings to inflict the Aussies' first Test defeat on home soil in two years.

Australia v Pakistan - 2016

Australia won by an innings and 18 runs

One of Australia's most recognisable cricketers and seventh on the all-time list of Test wicket-takers, Nathan Lyon is more commonly known as 'Garry'.

The origins of this nickname stem from Matthew Wade yelling "Nice, Garry!" from behind the stumps in reference to the former AFL star Garry Lyon during South Africa's tour of Australia, but it was in the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan where the nickname took flight.

A Facebook campaign had planned to get the entire MCG crowd to shout "Nice, Garry!" in unison on Lyon's third delivery. The off-spinner didn't get the memo and claimed the wicket of Sami Aslam, which resulted in cheers instead of the catchy phrase.

Australia went on to win the Test by an innings and Lyon was at the forefront, claiming four wickets.

New Zealand v Sri Lanka - 2014

New Zealand won by 8 wickets

Moving away from Melbourne and across the Tasman Sea to the picturesque Christchurch, Brendon McCullum put on a scintillating show on Boxing Day 2014 as he powered New Zealand to victory, falling five runs short of the quickest-double hundred.

Whatever Sri Lanka attempted to stifle him failed miserably as McCullum smashed sixes over long-off and Suranga Lakmal bore the brunt of the Kiwi's assault as he was smashed for 26 runs in an over.

McCullum became the first New Zealander to score 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year and the victory marked the Black Caps' fifth Test win of 2014, making it the most successful year in their history before that tally was usurped by the crop of 2024.

Australia v England - 1982

England won by 3 runs

In a breathtaking climax, England secured victory by the narrowest of margins in the 1982/83 Ashes series to keep their hopes of retaining the urn alive.

Australia, who required 292 to win, had just 218 on the board when they lost their ninth wicket on the fourth day. An England success appeared inevitable but Bob Willis' decision to bowl at the No.11 Jeff Thomson and allow Allan Border to clock up the singles had backfired.

The hosts forced proceedings to a fifth day and there was only three runs it when Ian Botham was handed the ball. Thomson opted to go for a heroic match-winner when his shot flicked to second slip, where Chris Tavare parried the ball upwards and Geoff Miller swooped round to complete the catch.

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