Posted by If you don’t know our approach to covering the Boxing Day Tests, it involves listing what matches are taking place, wishing everyone a happy Festivus and then buggering off. In previous years, you, the readership, have boldly stepped into the breach and highlighted all the interesting cricket in the comments section.
We quite enjoy stepping back and being a reader of the site for these few days. As our future comments below will no doubt highlight, you wouldn’t be getting anything sensible out of us anyway.
So what are we looking at this year?
The Boxing Day Tests
- Australia v Pakistan from 11.30pm Christmas Day (UK time)
- South Africa v India from 8.30am Boxing Day
Of the two, South Africa v India feels the more intriguing. India won the 2021 Boxing Day Test last time they toured, but then lost the next two Tests, both of which were serious tussles. It was a very good series that threw up some really interesting talking points.
At least at the outset, that one feels like it could be quite a balanced contest. Australia v Pakistan, in contrast, feels anything of the sort. Pakistan have now lost 15 Tests in a row in Australia. The flipside to that, we suppose, is that if they do actually manage to achieve a position of dominance, that would be a very interesting thing indeed.
Let the cricket and overeating begin!
Happy Festivus everybody. As ever, don’t hold back during The Airing of Grievances.
Oh and sign up for the email so you get the next article when we finally get round to clocking on again.
I hope everyone has a good Boxing Day Test Eve (AKA Alastair Cook’s Birthday, possibly some other names for it as well).
If/When you get sick of your families and can’t quite make it to the start of Australia v Pakistan without some cricket, don’t forget the UAE/Afghanistan tour match from 6am UK time.
Also Marcus Trescothick and Simon Jones’ birthdays.
What a day.
I knew about Trescothick but not Simon Jones. Hopefully the ECB spent yesterday compiling a database of births to fast-track for coaching for the 2047 Ashes squads
England must surely boast the finest Christmas Day Birthday XI even with eight duffers to make up the numbers.
Oh hello! Off the back of this, we have a new favourite cricketer name…
https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/joylord-gumbie-596376
You couldn’t make it up – Joylord Gumbie.
Daisy and I got to see some of the South Africa v India action on TV today and enjoyed what we saw. Sad to learn that there are only to be two tests. Have I ever previously mentioned around here that I don’t consider two tests to be a series? Especially disappointing this time, as we witnessed some really good, competitive test cricket.
In the tasty names department, Daisy was taken with the name Burger on the South Africa team sheet. She’s wondering whether there might be space for Burger in a team with Mustard, Onions, Salt, Pepper and just six others to make a complete list of ingredients for a meal.
Rebecca Rolls
Bruch French /
CB Fry (these two need to stay together)
Alan Lamb
Clive Rice
Will Beer
This is an important point. We’ve already made terrible ‘fast food’ type jokes about him, but even after all the recent Salt chat, we hadn’t considered Burger’s usefulness within a Meal XI.
Daisy tends to focus on the important matters pertaining to cricket. She is torn between prioritising Tony de Zorzi’s back-lift or his hair, for example. We might not get to see both again this match, which is a source of grave concern in our household, as I’m sure readers can imagine.
Another great name. Magician at a circus vibes.
What are the latest 2023 Lord Megachief of Gold odds?
Surely Pat Cummins is a shoo-in…
I might be on my third Irn-Bru of the day (I MIGHT be), but Mark Wood seems to be the most memorable contributor to my cricketing experience this year (aside from the retiring David Warner, the only time in history that Warner could be described as retiring).
Disappointing to see Australia recover from 16 for 4. That sort of thing really annoys me.
It’s the hope that gets you.
Not a test at all, but a T20. Can we have and end of year prize for the most indifferent (seriously, VERY indifferent) epic catch of the year?
My sole submission for the prize is that by Basil off Rahmanullah in today’s (29th Dec.) T20 between Afghanistan and UAE. He even looked really glum about it, but perhaps that’s because Rahmanullah had already hit a ton beforehand.
Not a huge fan of T20, but I am a huge fan of apathy in all its forms, particularly in the face of magnificence.
Thanks, Buttface. I enjoyed this short vid, the moment you describe being right at the end:
https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=basil%20T20%20catch%20rahmanullah%20UAE%20v%20Afghanistan&shem=rime&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5
Basil Hameed has previous in the matter of great catches. Possibly less so in the matter of sour faced indifference when so-doing.