The 2021 Ashes Boxing Day Test will go down as one of the most memorable Test matches for Australian fans, and one of the most forgettable for the English.
Team, individual and venue records tumbled upon a lively pitch curated by MCG Head Curator, Matt Page as Australia took an unassailable three-nil lead to retain the Ashes via a thumping win to the tune of an innings and 14 runs.It was a Test match that had it all from a delayed start due to unseasonable rain on Day 1.
Under overcast skies, returning Australian captain, Pat Cummins won the toss and sent the English in to bat, in the hope of unleashing himself, Mitchell Starc, Cameron Green and Victorian Test debutant and Gulidjan man, Scott Boland on a ‘seaming’ pitch.
It would be all Australia on the opening day as, outside of England captain Joe Root (50) and contributions from Jonny Bairstow (35) and Ben Stokes (25), the visitors were routed for 185 inside 62 overs.
Australia would further assert their authority by reaching 1/61 at stumps, off the back of a quick-fire 35 from opener David Warner, and steady stroke play from another Victorian, Marcus Harris.
On Day 2, England would claw their way back into the contest and, if not for Harris (76), it could’ve been much worse for the Australians. The home side’s middle order failed to gain any momentum, and it was thanks to some lower-order grafting from Cummins (21) and Starc (24 not out) that pushed the Australian total to a respectable 267 all out, and a lead of 82 runs.
But as the shadows lengthened across the MCG, Australia were not to be denied. A vicious opening spell from the combination of Cummins and Starc with ball yielded two wickets in two balls for the latter in the fifth over.
Six overs later – the penultimate over of the day – Boland had the MCG crowd in raptures when he added to his maiden wicket in the first innings, by “nicking off” England opener Haseeb Hameed. Two balls later, he crashed the ball into the stumps of nightwatchman, Jack Leach to the roar of the crowd that sounded twice as loud as the 42,626-strong attendance.
As Boland collected his cap at the end of the over to walk to his fielding position in front of the Great Southern Stand, the scenes of jubilation and appreciation will live long in the memory of all who were there.
On Day 3, after 83 minutes of play, the match was Australia’s. Needing six English wickets, Starc bowled Ben Stokes, before Boland claimed the next four wickets to finish with the astonishing figures of six wickets for seven runs from just four overs. In a dream debut, Boland’s name will be forever immortalised on the honour boards inside the MCG dressing rooms.
Cameron Green then bowled England number 11, James Anderson to claim the tenth English wicket and ensure the “mythical Ashes of English cricket” remained in Australia as the celebrations ensued.
To cap the perfect story, Boland was awarded the Johnny Mullagh Medal as the player of the match. The Mullagh Medal is named after all-rounder Yanggendyinanyuk (Dick-a-Dick), Johnny Mullagh – who embarked on the first-ever international cricket tour of England in 1868 as part of an all Indigenous team. It is the second year that the medal has been awarded at the MCG’s Boxing Day Test match.
With the help of the MCC Library, we look back at some of the numbers of this remarkable Test:
- 2: Scott Boland’s haul is only the second incidence of five wickets being taken in an innings for less than 10 runs in a Test at the MCG, following Bert Ironmonger’s 5/6 (off seven six-ball overs, including five maidens) against South Africa in February 1932. In the second innings Ironmonger took 6/16 (off 9 overs, including 5 maidens) to finish the match with 11 wickets for 24 runs.
- 4: Boland became the fourth Australian to take five of more wickets in an innings in their Test debut in a match played at the MCG. He follows Billy Midwinter’s 5/76 in the very first Test match in March 1877, Robert McLeod’s 5/53 in the First Test of the 1891/92 Ashes series, and Brett Lee’s 5/47 against India in the 1999 Boxing Day Test. Arif Butt is the only visiting bowler has taken five or more wickets in an innings at the MCG in their debut Test match. He took 6/89 in the only Test of Pakistan’s first Australian tour, in the 1964/65 season.
- 6 for 7: Boland’s second innings figures are the best by an Australian fast bowler on Test debut since Bob Massie in 1972.
- 10: The 2021 Ashes Boxing Day Test was the tenth three-day Test at the MCG (of 114 Test matches). The first since the 2012 Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka, and the first against England since the 2006 Boxing Day Test. There has been only one two-day Test at the MCG, the Fourth Test of the West Indies’ first tour of Australia in the summer of 1930/31.
- 16: Boland now sits 16th on the list for best figures taken by an Australian, who has taken five or more wickets in an innings in an MCG Test match. Twelve players have taken seven wickets in an innings, while “Garth” McKenzie and Max Walker have both taken eight wickets in an innings. Arthur Mailey’s 9/121 in Fourth Test of 1920/21 Ashes series is the record for most wickets by in an innings by an Australian anywhere, not just at the MCG.
- 19: The number of deliveries it took for Scott Boland to claim his five-wicket haul. It is the joint-quickest ‘five-for’ claimed in Test cricket by a fast bowler, alongside Australia’s Ernie Toshack and England’s Stuart Broad.
- 55: The 2021 Boxing Day Test was the first MCG Test where Australia retained the Ashes in 55 years, since the Fifth Test of the 1965/66 Ashes series, which was drawn 1-1. England last retained the Ashes in a Test match at the MCG in the 2010 Boxing Day Test.
- 68: England’s second innings total in Melbourne, their lowest score in Australia since 1904.
- 82: Australia’s first innings lead after scoring a team total of 267. It is the third-lowest deficit in Test history to then go on and win by an innings, and the lowest-ever since 1962.
- 1,084: The number of balls bowled in Melbourne, which was the shortest MCG Test match (in terms of balls bowled) since 1932.
- 140,671: Number of fans who flocked to the MCG across the three days of the Test.
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