Boxing Day Test: Cricket fans across the globe have definitely come across one of the most illustrious terms called Boxing Day matches and even though the tradition of Boxing Day was lent from folklore, yet the tradition has rooted itself in the fabric of the game pretty deeply. Across all sports played on this day, a few marquee clashes are always set to headline this auspicious occasion that marks the magnanimity of mankind.
First, let us introduce you to the concept of Boxing Day. This day has a rich cultural and religious harvest, underlining its importance. Boxing day got its name in the 1800s when Queen Victoria was the ruler of England. It eventually came from the tradition where the rich would have boxed gifts for the poor the day after Christmas. In the yesteryears, Boxing Day used to be a day off for the servants and that ritual is now observed as a bank holiday in most European countries.
The Boxing Day tradition started in cricket in 1856 when Victoria and New South Wales collided in a rollicking encounter for the Sheffield Shield match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Going by the vintage stature of the Sheffield Shield, this match took the form of an extension of the festive moods of Christmas.
The match between Victoria and NSW turned into an instant classic with the latter walking away with the bragging rights in a closely-contested stramash. The fixture, the craze and the entirety surrounding the clash shortly gunned into a revolutionizing moment in the antiquity of cricket and in 1865, it became an annual fixture between the two states.
The first Boxing Day Test match happened between Australia and England in 1950 at the MCG. However, despite the clash between Victoria and NSW becoming the national fixture, it took Melbourne Cricket Club and Australian cricket team a whopping century and more to bag the official rights to conduct a Test match every year on this auspicious day of sporting extravaganza across the globe.
Apart from cricket, in many other sports, illustrious matches are played across the face of this planet. English football always schedules its marquee clashes on this day. 2021 stayed witness to a couple of rollicking contests as England was rocked by Australia in the third Ashes Test while India was up against the Proteas in the latter’s backyard. Australia has been running amok against a hapless England in the ongoing Ashes while KL Rahul struck a solid ton to announce India’s defiance against the mighty fast bowling trident of South Africa.
