Know about "the Boxing Day" in Australia

New Delhi: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Australia vs India, 3rd Test... all the terms may seem relevant to you but to get the real feeling, one needs to experience it on December 26th.India will play 3rd Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on December 26, the Boxing Day. Visitors lagging behind by 2-0 in the series will put all the efforts to avoid a whitewash in the series and register a win.The term "Boxing Day" has long been associated with Cricket but it has got nothing to do with the boxing sport as such. Traditionally, Boxing Day is a holiday to celebrate the day following Christmas Day. The origin of the Boxing Day is not clear in the history and arguments have been done on its name as well.A cricket match at the Boxing Day marks a special day in the Australian sports calendar. And if one is an Australian cricket fan the Boxing Day Test is always something to cherish, the day after Christmas holiday.Its has been a long tradition to have a test match on boxing day. Between 1999 to 2007 Australia won all the games played on boxing day.Not only cricket even Australia's National Basketball League is also being held on Boxing Day since 1998-99.Traditionally, Boxing Day marks the first day of the Test match but in 1989, a One Day International (ODI) was played instead of a Test match, between Australia and Sri Lanka, which Australia won by 30 runs.Boxing Day is celebrated in the United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and other Commonwealth nations, as well as Norway and Sweden.In South Africa, Boxing Day was renamed Day of Goodwill in 1994. Due to the Roman Catholic Church's liturgical calendar, the day is known as St. Stephen's Day to Catholics.In Italy, Finland, and Alsace and Moselle in France. It is also known as both St. Stephen's Day and the Day of the Wren or Wren's Day in the Republic of Ireland.26 December is celebrated as the Second Christmas Day in many European countries, including Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and those in Scandinavia. Events at Boxing Day:1) Boxing Day is a time to spend with family or friends, usually those not seen on Christmas Day.2) With guests often popping in for a snack and quick drink, the food and drink on Boxing Day is more relaxed than Christmas Day. Lunch will usually be a buffet or leftovers from Christmas lunch. Baked Ham is a popular Boxing Day meat and of course, Mince Pies with Brandy Butter or a slice of Christmas Cake.3) Boxing Day was a day off for servants and when they received a ‘Christmas Box' from the master. The servants would also go home to give ‘Christmas Boxes' to their families.4) In the recent times Boxing Day has also emerged as a Shopping Day for people.5) Until 2004, Boxing Day hunts were a traditional part of Boxing Day but the ban on fox hunting has put an end to the hunt in its traditional sense. Still gather dressed in red hunting coats to the sound of the hunting horn but it is now forbidden in law to chase the fox with dogs, so the dogs now follow artificially laid trails.