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Boxing Day Test debacle: Two days of mayhem
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Series
England celebrated their first Test win in Australia in close to 15 years as they chased down 175 runs in the fourth innings for a four-wicket Ashes victory completed in two manic days at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
10 stories
‘This one’s going to sting’: The blunt phone call from cricket boss to the MCC amid Boxing Day disaster
The inside story of a two-day Test match, the commercial fiasco that followed, and the curator at the centre of it.
- Today, 5.30am
- by Daniel Brettig
Updated
Controversial MCG pitch given ‘unsatisfactory’ grade by ICC
The MCG’s seam-friendly Boxing Day Test pitch has been assessed as “unsatisfactory” by the International Cricket Council, breaking the venue’s streak of top ratings.
- 51 minutes ago
- by Andrew Wu and Daniel Brettig
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Exclusive
Two-day Test leaves $25 million revenue hole as MCC stands by curator
As Cricket Australia braces for a pitch fail from the International Cricket Council, its broadcast partners were on Sunday privately fuming as they count the cost of the second two-day Test of the Ashes summer.
- December 28, 2025
- by Andrew Wu
Why 10 millimetres of MCG grass made batting a nightmare in the Boxing Day Test
Why is everyone so worked up about the length of the grass, how does it make life difficult for batters, and what does it mean for the famous Melbourne stadium?
- December 28, 2025
- by Roy Ward
Stokes praises Barmy Army in historic Ashes win, Smith blames lack of runs on ‘tricky’ wicket
England have avoided an Ashes whitewash by winning a memorable Boxing Day Test at the MCG – their first Test win on Australian soil in almost 15 years. Follow the reaction.
- December 27, 2025
- by Danny Russell
Analysis
Ashes player ratings: The Australian trio who should be nervous after Bazballers finally deliver
England have finally fired an Ashes shot, and a growing host of Aussies are now looking over their shoulders. We rate every player from another scarcely believable Boxing Day Test.
- December 27, 2025
- by Dan Walsh
How Scott Boland went from a golden duck at No.11 to opening batsman on one crazy Boxing Day
The MCG has seen some wild days in its time, though rarely as crazy as this. Twenty wickets, 266 runs and the constant threat of a wicket falling kept a record crowd entertained.
- December 26, 2025
- by Andrew Wu
Opinion
Were you not entertained? Satisfied? Making sense of a rogue Boxing Day Test
Much as many would like to wall off this Test, it might not be possible. Besides, some five-day Tests of yore should have been euthanised before their time.
- Today, 5.30am
- by Greg Baum
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Analysis
Inside the 21-minute grilling of the MCG curator and his boss
When MCG curator Matt Page and MCC chief executive Stuart Fox emerged from gate two of the empty coliseum on Sunday, their slow walk towards dozens of journalists said it all.
- December 28, 2025
- by Tom Decent
Analysis
England won a game of cricket at the MCG, but this was no Test match
This match and this pitch cannot be representative of Test matches; if it is, then cricket’s grandest form will be in trouble.
- December 27, 2025
- by Daniel Brettig
