The Boxing Day Test is a traditional cricket match which is held in South Africa annually.
History The history of South Africa's Boxing Day Test traces back to 1913, with a match against England in Johannesburg. The tradition became more established after South Africa's return to international cricket in the early 1990s, with the 1992 match against India being a notable milestone.
In 2012, an attempt was made to replace the Test with a T20I format, but it was unsuccessful.
In 2020, the Boxing Test match against Sri Lanka was notably played behind closed doors due to COVID-19 precautions.
On several occasions South Africa has played in Australia's annual Boxing Day Test as the touring side; on such occasions no Boxing Day Test match was held in South Africa.
Venue The first modern Boxing Day Test was held at St George's Park Cricket Ground in Port Elizabeth in 1992. Two years later, in 1994, the venue shifted to Kingsmead Cricket Ground in Durban. Durban's Kingsmead remained the predominant venue for the event until 2011, when the Test was hosted at Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town.https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/boxing-day-stats-230834
In 2018, the venue was shifted to SuperSport Park in Centurion, reflecting changes in preferences and attendance patterns.
List of Boxing Day Test matches held in South Africa +Boxing Day Test matches held in South AfricaYearOpposition teamResultVenue 1913 won by an innings and 12 runsOld Wanderers, Johannesburg 1922 won by 168 runs 1927 won by 10 wickets 1930 won by 28 runs 1935 Match drawn 1938 Match drawn 1949 won by an innings and 85 runsEllis Park, Johannesburg 1953 won by 132 runs 1956 won by 131 runsWanderers Stadium, Johannesburg 1957 Match drawn 1961 Match drawn 1964 Match drawn 1966 won by 233 runs 1992 won by 9 wickets St George's Park, Port Elizabeth 1994 won by 8 wickets Kingsmead, Durban 1995 Match drawn St George's Park, Port Elizabeth 1996 won by 328 runsKingsmead, Durban 1998 won by 9 wickets 1999 Match drawn 2000 Match drawn 2002 won by 10 wickets 2003 won by an innings and 65 runs 2004 Match drawn 2006 won by 174 runs 2007 won by 128 runs St George's Park, Port Elizabeth 2009 won by an innings and 98 runsKingsmead, Durban 2010 won by 87 runs 2011 won by 208 runs 2013 won by 10 wickets 2014 Match drawn St George's Park, Port Elizabeth 2015 won by 241 runs Kingsmead, Durban 2016 won by 206 runsSt George's Park, Port Elizabeth 2017 won by an innings and 120 runs 2018 won by 6 wicketsCenturion Park, Centurion 2019 won by 107 runs 2020 won by an innings and 45 runs 2021 won by 113 runs 2023 won by an innings and 32 runs 2024 won by 2 wickets
Overall Record - South Africa vs Visitors + Opposition Team GP W D LWin % Recent Test Boxing Day 1966 Boxing Day 2019 Boxing Day 2023 Boxing Day 1994 Boxing Day 2024 Boxing Day 2020 Boxing Day 2014 Boxing Day 2017 Total Boxing Day 2023
See also Boxing Day Test (Australia) Boxing Day Test (New Zealand) Pink ODI
References