In Australia and
New Zealand, the Boxing Day Test has two teams capable of producing the type of cricket befitting the stage and the occasion. But MCG pitch might have the final say
![All we want for Christmas is a Boxing Day Test to remember | Sam Perry](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/78ecb623267f0f7764266e763263788f59062a73/0_162_4785_2873/master/4785.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=d9ad5d03e179fe24e981af911a19ac6c)
In cricket’s darkness lies much of its charm. As a player, for example, moments of personal failure will outstrip success considerably. A batter might spend all week preparing meticulously, ‘ticking the boxes’ of nets, extra throwdowns, fitness, avoidance of alcohol, early to bed on Friday, only to be sent in on a wet wicket and soon after adjudged leg before after ‘smashing it’ into the front pad. Hours of thorough preparation again thwarted by a bad toss and an umpire with cataracts. This is just one scenario. There are a thousand others.
There’s something of the player’s parable in the Boxing Day Test, too. While all the component parts appear to be in place, history demands that we brace for something lesser than the sum of its parts.