Boxing Day Test (New Zealand)
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The Boxing Day Test is a
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
Test match held in
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, involving the
New Zealand national cricket team The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Nicknamed the Black Caps (), they played their first Test cricket, Test in 1930 against England cricket team, England in Christchurch, becoming the f ...
against a touring side.


History

The inaugural Boxing Day Test took place in 1998 at
Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve, also known as the Cello Basin Reserve for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the Basin, is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It is used for Test cricket, Test matches, and is the main home ground of t ...
, featuring a match against
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and highlighted by
Simon Doull Simon Blair Doull (born 6 August 1969) is a New Zealand radio personality, commentator and former international cricketer. He was a right-arm medium pacer, who was capable of swing bowling. He was plagued by injuries as a result of which his int ...
's bowling figures of 7-65. In 1999, New Zealand faced the
West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
in a Boxing Day Test, with Matthew Sinclair scoring a
double century In cricket, a century is a score of 100 or more runs in a single innings by a batter. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century ...
on his Test debut. In 2000, the third Boxing Day Test at Basin Reserve between New Zealand and
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
concluded in a draw, largely attributed to a lifeless pitch which hindered scoring. In 2001, the Boxing Day Test was played between New Zealand and
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
, which New Zealand won by an innings margin. In 2002, the Boxing Day Test was cancelled due to preparations for the
2003 Cricket World Cup The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the ...
and was replaced by an ODI cricket match. In 2003, after a year's hiatus, the Boxing Day Test featured New Zealand against Pakistan. The match resulted in New Zealand's first loss in a home Boxing Day Test, mainly due to an 11-wicket haul from
Shoaib Akhtar Shoaib Akhtar (; born 13 August 1975) is a Pakistani former international cricketer and commentator. Nicknamed the "Rawalpindi Express", he is the fastest bowler in cricketing history, with an unbeaten 161.3 kmph (100.23 mph) delivery. Akht ...
. From 2004 to 2013, the Boxing Day Test was not held, as
New Zealand Cricket New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket operates the New ...
prioritized limited-overs fixtures during the holiday period due to scheduling preferences and diminishing Test attendances. During this period, ODIs and T20Is replaced the Boxing Day Test. In 2014, the Boxing Day Test returned at
Hagley Oval Hagley Oval is a Cricket field, cricket ground in Hagley Park, Christchurch, Hagley Park in the Christchurch Central City, central city of Christchurch, New Zealand. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1867, when Canterbury cricket te ...
in
Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
, a shift from its traditional venue, to facilitate an uninterrupted sequence of ODIs before the 2015
Cricket World Cup The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial world cup for cricket in One Day International (ODI) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and consid ...
. The notable event of the 2014 Test was New Zealand captain
Brendon McCullum Brendon Barrie McCullum (born 27 September 1981) is a former New Zealand cricketer, and the current head coach of the England men's cricket team in all formats. Representing New Zealand, he captained the team in all formats. McCullum was renow ...
's innings of 195 runs from 134 balls against Sri Lanka, setting a national record for the fastest century at the time. From 2015 to 2017, Christchurch's Hagley Oval hosted
One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...
s for the Boxing Day event. In 2018, New Zealand Cricket reintroduced the Boxing Day Test at the same venue, marking a return to the longer format. In 2020, Boxing Day Test match was hosted by
Bay Oval Bay Oval is a cricket ground in Mount Maunganui, Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty area of New Zealand. The ground was built in Blake Park and opened in 2005. Bay Oval has hosted men's and women's international limited overs matches since 2014. It ...
in Mt Maunganui. On several occasions, New Zealand has played as the touring side in
Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
or South Africa's annual Boxing Day Test matches, and on such occasions no Test was held in New Zealand. In addition, in December 2022, during New Zealand's tour of Pakistan, the first Test of the series in Karachi began on Boxing Day, and was dubbed a 'Boxing Day Test' by some media in New Zealand.


List of Boxing Day matches held in New Zealand


See also

* Boxing Day Test (Australia) * Boxing Day Test (South Africa)


References

{{reflist New Zealand in international cricket Test cricket December in sports Christmas traditions Boxing Day