Boxing Day the ideal time for some great stoushes

The Boxing Day Test rarely lets fans down, but five such matches stand out from the rest, writes Tim Lane.

'Are you going on Boxing Day?" It's a frequently asked question in Melbourne (and this year, elsewhere) in the lead-up to Christmas and no further detail is required. The Test match starting on December 26 has become an institution. For a fixture whose permanence doesn't extend deeper into history than two decades, the so-called Boxing Day Test is a great and conspicuous tradition.

In Melbourne, there is the first Tuesday in November, the last Saturday in September (although times are changing) and Boxing Day. They are the holy trinity of Australian sport.

5: 1975 - Thommo flattens Windies...

This is the one that started it all. In the momentous summer of 1974-75, and again the following season, the Melbourne Test began on Boxing Day. The 1975-76 series against the West Indies - considered to be for the unofficial world championship - was level at one-all after two games and all roads led to Melbourne. On Boxing Day, 85,661 - the second-largest official crowd to that time for a day of cricket - went to the MCG.

4: 1998 - Lions in winter...

This was the Boxing Day Test without Boxing Day action - rain preventing a ball being bowled on day one. With the Ashes already retained by Australia, and Melbourne in a summer cold snap, a sense of gloom and futility pervaded. Yet, with extended playing time on the days that followed, the match finished late on the scheduled fourth day.

3: 1992 - The messiah is born...

This match is notable for two particular reasons - it put Australia ahead in a series against the mighty West Indies and, more significantly, revealed Shane Warne as a bowler who could win a Test match. Australia had gained a significant first-innings lead, largely due to centuries from Mark Waugh and Allan Border, and eventually set the world champions 358 to win.

2: 1981 - Hughes' masterpiece...

Selections one and two occurred in consecutive summers and the good fortune of the era is all the greater given the horrendous state of the MCG square. Yet the treacherous pitch contributed in no small part to the stature of the 1981 match.

1: 1982 - England win a heart-stopper...

At the time, it equalled the closest finish by a margin of runs in Test history, yet it wasn't just a tense climax. Each of the first three innings lasted precisely a day: England 284, Australia 287 and England 294. Australia was thus set 292 to win.