Boxing Day business

Some stats, like Bradman's average and the number of centuries Tendulkar has made are known to pretty much every cricket buff. But The List will bring you facts and figures that aren't so obvious, adding fuel to those fiery debates about the most valuable middle-order bat, and the most useless tailender. If there's a particular List that you would like to see, e-mail us with your comments and suggestions.

Since 1980, the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground has become a cricketing tradition and has been the stage for many a memorable performance. As Australia and South Africa fight for the series lead at the MCG, the List looks at players whose form may have varied depending on the size of their Christmas turkey or the strength of the eggnog.

Allan Border and Mark Taylor, two captains credited with reviving and strengthening Australia into a world force, have not had the best of times in Boxing Day Tests. Both average several notches below their career figure and when you consider that 170 of Taylor's 546 runs came in one innings in 1993, the remaining 376 runs at an average of 23.5 across 16 innings makes poor reading for an Australian opener. However, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, whose century in the ongoing Test has not been taken into analysis, both have stellar records to show for their Boxing Day Tests.

Jacques Kallis and Gary Kirsten have had prolific results in these matches, and while you would expect Australians to dominate the most-runs-on-Boxing-Day list, these two are ranked at No.2 and No.3. Overseas batsmen haven't had the happiest time and batting behemoths like Viv Richards , Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar average 43.63, 35.91 and 37.66 respectively in their Boxing Day outings. Though England are often on tour in December and therefore feature quite frequently in Tests on Boxing Day, none of their batsmen, with the exception of Alec Stewart , figure in the top run-scorers list. Stewart, though, has had a phenomenal time of it and his Boxing Day average of 63.33 towers over his career 39.54.

A gritty innings from Kirsten tops the list of highest scores in Boxing Day Tests. His 275 after England enforced the follow-on, came off 642 balls and spanned almost 14 hours and 30 minutes across three days. It was Test cricket's second-longest innings after the 970 minutes that Hanif Mohammad took to score 337 against West Indies.

Two Tests began on December 26 in 2003 and in total eight hundreds were scored in them. Ponting made 257 at Melbourne and Sehwag holed out on 195 while attempting to reach his double with a hoick off a juicy full toss from Simon Katich. There could have been a fourth ton but Rahul Dravid fell on 92. At Durban, South Africa piled up a massive first-innings lead, Kallis's 177 was the highest of the three centuries in the innings. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul fought bravely after West Indies followed on, but their hundreds couldn't avert an innings defeat.

Allan Donald's post-Christmas feats are rather remarkable: 43 wickets at 19.39 from eight games. Indian batsmen were the objects of his torment and Donald took 12 wickets against them at Port Elizabeth in 1992 and followed up with nine at Durban in 1996. Courtney Walsh is another West Indian who wasn't at his best on Boxing Day. He has just 23 wickets from eight games and averages 35.56. Anil Kumble, who was a shadow of his spinning best on overseas tours until recently, has 19 wickets at 39.73 from five matches.

Australia and South Africa have been predictably dominant in Boxing Day Tests. Australia have won 19 of their 37 matches and lost just seven while South Africa have won 11 and lost five of their 27 games. Asian teams have never been the best touring teams and Pakistan is the only team with a win under their belt. India have never managed to win a Boxing Day Test and have lost seven of their 12, with four draws at home.

The statistics include all Tests played on Boxing Day. Some Tests may have started before December 26.

If there's a particular List that you would like to see, e-mail us with your comments and suggestions.