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The special allure of Boxing Day Tests

MELBOURNE DEC. 25. Boxing Day is a festival that dates back to Roman times. It is thought to have started with the gift-giving custom called strenae.

The early Christian church adopted the custom by placing boxes in the churches in order to collect money for special masses in which all sins were forgiven in celebration of the Christmas holidays. These boxes became known as Alms boxes and were opened the day after the Christmas festival and the contents distributed to the poor.

Boxing Day Test matches have only a modest history in comparison but for many Melburnians it takes on a religious connotation that is uniquely Australian. They worship in the sun on these occasions and the hallowed ground on which the ceremony takes place is called the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Sport in this country has had much to do with our collective self-esteem and our record on the sporting field suggests a fervour that is only matched by the most zealous religious fanatic. Perhaps because of our unique and modest beginnings as a country, and because of our small population, we have had to build a reputation where we could. Thankfully wars have been few and far between in this part of the world so we have only had the battlefield of sports on which to build a reputation.

Many of our heroes have come from the rural heart of our country where necessity is the mother of invention. Our farmers over our short history have developed some of the most amazing machinery from the detritus of farming implements tied together with fencing wire.

This same inventive mentality has been the hallmark of our cricketers from Bradman to Ponting. Removed from formal coaching by the tyranny of distance they have had to develop their own style that has then been honed on the rocky outfields that are the staple of country cricket in the far-flung regions of our sun burned land.

If they show any talent they are thrown into senior cricket at an early age and the gnarled veterans who populate the teams in these parts test their competitive spirit. By the time they reach their state teams they have been put through the wringer so often that they have had the seeds of self-doubt virtually squeezed out of them. Test cricket then becomes a mere formality and just another testing ground on which to prove their mettle.

Some of my fondest memories of Boxing Day Test matches in Melbourne are of walking down to the MCG through the adjacent parkland amid a colourful and excited group of patrons heading off to pay homage to their heroes. Many people make this an annual pilgrimage to the MCG on December 26 and meet up with friends and family from near and far. For some it is the only time they see each other from one year to the next so it becomes a big social event. It is also the start of the summer holidays for most and this also gives the occasion a festival air.

For all of these reasons the Test match has a different feel from those that have been played before Christmas. It is as though everyone is putting the current year behind them and beginning the celebration for the coming year. Cricket just happens to be the convenient backdrop for the festivities.

During my career we used to practice on the ground in front of Bay 13 that was generally filling fast as people rushed to reserve their favourite seat and the banter in the crowd always seemed friendly, unless of course you were one of the visitors they loved to hate.

Geoff Boycott, John Snow, Tony Greig, Richard Hadlee and Ian Botham were some with whom the patrons in Bay 13 had a love-hate relationship. The fact that these patrons picked unmercifully on these individuals was in fact a backhand compliment. Had they not been worthy opponents the Melburnians would not have bothered with them. The same sort of contrary humour is why Australians call red headed people `blue'.

Tony Greig and Ian Botham gave the crowd as much as they got and in an equally perverse way won the respect of their tormentors. Snow and Hadlee were not so extroverted and just bore the attention in silence for most of the time. Hadlee eventually complained of the treatment and this brought more unwanted attention upon him.

Victorian members of the Australian team hold a special place in the hearts of the patrons at the MCG. Victorians crowds are as parochial as any in Australia. Players such as Bill Lawry, Merv Hughes and Shane Warne have come in for special treatment from their hometown hero worshippers. For the people in Bay 13 to mimic Merv Hughes and his stretching antics between overs was a popular sport during Hughes' career with Australia.

Generally the Boxing Day Test is the third of the series and it is usually an important game in the context of the series. Things will be no different this year. Steve Waugh will hope that his team has distributed all the alms that they are intending to bestow upon the Indian team this year and that the sins of the Adelaide Test will be forgiven.

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