This year’s Boxing Day Test could be the last to be held in Melbourne as it and Sydney’s iconic New Year’s Eve match are auctioned off by Cricket Australia.
- Test cricket faces new threats from T20
- Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests have long traditions
- Can be sold to the highest bidder
Cricket Australia refuses to lock down Melbourne and Sydney in their historic location as host venues for Test matches beyond this season, saying there is a “good lead to look at our future content now”.
Other states have made waves each year over potential poaching of both the MCG’s Boxing Day Test and the SCG’s New Year’s Test, saying no one should have a stranglehold on hit games.
The publication of the international calendar confirmed that the iconic matches will remain in Melbourne and Sydney at least this summer.
While CA programming boss Peter Roach said they place “great weight on historic games,” the quest to maximize crowds and revenue would play a prominent role in planning for the future. .
The idea of moving the Boxing Day Test from the MCG will be seen as sacrilege by many cricket fans
Sydney’s New Year’s Test is also the Pink Test which raises money and awareness for breast cancer research and treatment
Negotiations with state governments and officials from the Melbourne Cricket Club, which runs the MCG, and the CA are ongoing, with the last three-season deal to host the Boxing Day Test having expired last summer.
South Australian officials have also expressed a desire to snatch the New Year’s Test from Sydney, and Roach could not guarantee the two venues from their traditional dates beyond the 2023-24 campaign.
“We think there’s a big weight in historical matches because it drives that continued attendance and continued support, but we haven’t locked down any venues for years to come,” Roach told the MCG on Monday.
“We look at it historically one year at a time. As I said, we now have a track where we can look at the best results for the next seven or eight years for all of our sites.
“We can work with our sites, governments and state associations to plan ahead. We see it as there’s huge competition for our content, I guess, which is great. We know that year after year we have great content to take to the States.
Massive crowds have always attended the Boxing Day Test, but with Test cricket beleaguered by the T20, that tradition could be wiped out.
Empty seats are increasingly common in Test matches, with cricket fans flocking to shorter game formats in favor of traditional Tests
Roach said CA would “engage with the SCG” over their annual test match, which has become a huge fundraiser for the Jane McGrath Foundation and a special piece of cricket’s summer.
‘It’s not a question of whether they keep the Test. It’s about whether we have the best fit for Australian cricket,” Roach said.
“All of our sites play a big role in this. SCG is one of them.
“It’s about making sure that we play in venues where we can maximize our crowd, play in venues where we can maximize people watching TV at home, play in venues that make sense of the point from the planning and travel point of view, from the sense of the point of view a historical point of view.
“All of these things play an important role in ensuring that we put together the best schedule for Australian cricket.”
Perth will host Australia’s opening Test next summer against sixth-placed Pakistan before the series moves to Melbourne and Sydney. Brisbane, Australia Day, and Adelaide then welcome the West Indies.
