Posted by The Boxing Day Test is looming and despite the already terminal series scoreline, we are very excited indeed. Nevertheless, our default approach to covering the sport’s biggest Test match is to wish you all a happy Festivus and then bugger off… so that’s what we’re doing.
The long and short of it is that we can’t really guarantee we’ll write anything at this time of year, but the Boxing Day Test is such a big thing it demands acknowledgement and a place where impassioned early hours insight from the readership can be posted for the good of all humankind.
So that’s what this article is for. We probably won’t be writing much above the line during this Test match, but we’ll definitely be found below. We rather enjoy being a reader at this time of year. What a great website. We really should show our support and back its Patreon.
The 2025 Boxing Day Test
There is just the one Boxing Day Test this year, but it’s the big ‘un: Australia v England at the MCG from 11.30pm on Christmas Day (UK time).
We’ve rarely been accused of upbeat positivity and this week’s “Woe! The Ashes are gone!” dissection was no exception. We haven’t really lost any interest in the series though.
It’s depressingly true that England still haven’t won the Ashes in Australia since 2010/11, but they also haven’t won a single Test match there since that same series. This seems to us an even more significant unticked box on the ‘to do’ list – it’s kind of a requirement for the more ambitious goal, after all.
Any chance?
Stranger things have happened. In fact one of England’s strangest single days of Test cricket happened at this week’s location: Melbourne Cricket Ground, the MCG… the ‘G.
With the 2010/11 Ashes level at 1-1 and Australia clearly in the ascendancy having reverted to bowling their opponents out for under 200 in both innings of the previous Test match, England came out and gave themselves an innings-and-59-run head start going into Day 2.
Read all about it! (We really need a special ‘Read all about it!’ image to go with these book plugs.)
Boxing Day Ashes Tests since then haven’t been quite so delightful – although there was a very boring draw in 2017.
Teams
England were always going to drop their number three batter in favour of the other after the third Test. The only question at the start of the series was which number three would be heading in which direction. They ultimately chose to sacrifice Ollie Pope in the live Tests and have therefore now moved on to Jacob Bethell for the dead rubbers.
Almost as predictably, Jofra Archer has been struck down by injury and England’s journey to right-arm fast-medium is all but complete.
Australia, meanwhile, are back to just the one first-choice bowler (Mitchell Starc) in Melbourne, after a brief flirtation with three (Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon) in Adelaide.
Happy Festivus!
Stay focused and try not to spray it around too much during The Airing of Grievances and then don’t get overly ambitious during The Feats of Strength – remember, you aren’t as young as you were.
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