Top 3 best Boxing Day Test matches in the history of Cricket

Over the years, a Test match is played during the Christmas and New Year weekend, which is the last week of the year. For the unversed, Boxing Day comes a day after Christmas which gift boxes used to be sent to lower-income classes in Britain during the colonial era. The first Boxing Day Test was played in 1968.

Since then, at least every year. Over the years, there have been a lot of Test matches that have been played during the occasion. In this listicle, we will discuss the top three Test matches played during Boxing Day.

1. Fourth Test during Ashes 1982-83

In the closely contested game between the Ashes rivals, the home team Australia won the toss and elected to field. Thanks to Chris Tavare (89) and Allan Lamb (83), the Three Lions reached 284 all-out. For the home team, Rodney Hogg and Bruce Yardley took four wickets each. In reply, the home team took a three-run lead.

In the second innings, England amassed 294 runs with Graeme Fowler (65) being the only one to score a fifty. Geoff Lawson, who also coached the Pakistan Cricket Team in 2007-08 took four wickets. Chasing 292, the home team agonizingly lost the game by three runs.

2. Fourth Test during Ashes 1998

More than 16 years after the three-run win, the European side clinched another thriller in the Boxing Day. Batting first, the visitors England amassed 270 all-out with skipper Alex Stewart (107) scoring a hundred. In reply, the home team took a lead of 70 runs with skipper Steve Waugh scoring a hundred. 

In the second innings, the Three Lions were bowled out for 244 with skipper Stewart following up with a fifty with Nasser Hussain and Graeme Hick scoring a fifty each too. Chasing 175, the Aussies were going well with 103/2. However, Dean Headley’s six-for ensured that his team won the game by 12 runs.

3. Third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2018-19

For the first time in the history of Indian cricket, they won a Boxing Day Test in Australia five years back. Ahead of the team, both teams entered with the series leveled 1-1. A win would have ensured that either team would have ensured them that they wouldn’t lose the series.

Meanwhile, batting first, India reached 443/7 declared thanks to Cheteshwar Pujara (106), Mayank Agarwal (76), skipper Virat Kohli (82), Rohit Sharma (63), and Rishabh Pant (39). In reply, the home team was bowled out for 151 runs with Jasprit Bumrah taking a six-for. After deciding to bat again, the Asian side declared at 106/8 with Pat Cummins taking six wickets. Chasing 399 runs, the home team was bowled out for 261 runs, winning by 137 runs