Melbourne, Dec 27: The Boxing Day Test of the 2025/26 Ashes has taken its place among the shortest men’s Test matches in history after England completed a five-wicket victory inside two days at the MCG, becoming the 28th Test to finish within 48 hours.
The match followed a familiar script seen in rare two-day Tests, with bowlers dominating proceedings as 20 wickets fell on the opening day before Australia were dismissed twice before Tea on day two, leaving England to chase down 175 for their first Test win in Australia in 15 years. Of the 28 two-day Tests played so far, England have hosted nine, the most recent being in August 2000, which also remains the only such Test in the country since 1921, while South Africa have hosted eight, Australia five and India two. The 1888–89 season remains unparalleled, producing five two-day Tests in succession and six in seven matches.
The list begins with the famous August 28, 1882 Test at The Oval, where Australia beat England by seven runs, followed by a flurry of matches in 1888, including Australia’s 61-run win at Lord’s on July 16, England’s innings victory at Manchester on August 13, and another innings win for England at The Oval on August 30. In 1889, England beat South Africa twice in quick contests, once by eight wickets in Port Elizabeth on March 12 and then by an innings and 202 runs in Cape Town on March 25, while England also edged Australia by two wickets at The Oval in August 1890.
Two more rapid finishes came in 1896, when England crushed South Africa by 288 runs at Johannesburg in February and again by an innings and 33 runs in March. In 1912, Australia defeated South Africa by an innings and 88 runs in Manchester, while England beat South Africa by 10 wickets at The Oval later that year, before Australia sealed a 10-wicket win over England at Nottingham in May 1921.
The trend continued sporadically through the 20th century, with Australia overwhelming the West Indies by an innings and 122 runs in Melbourne in February 1931, repeating the feat against South Africa in Johannesburg in February 1936, and routing New Zealand by an innings and 103 runs in Wellington in March 1946. England’s innings win over the West Indies at Leeds in August 2000 marked the last two-day Test in England.
In the modern era, Australia dismissed Pakistan twice cheaply to win by an innings and 198 runs in Colombo in October 2002, South Africa beat Zimbabwe by an innings and 21 runs in March 2005, New Zealand hammered Zimbabwe by an innings and 294 runs in August 2005, and South Africa again dominated Zimbabwe by an innings and 120 runs on Boxing Day in 2017. India’s first two-day Test came in June 2018, when they beat Afghanistan by an innings and 262 runs in Bengaluru, before England were bowled out twice in Ahmedabad in February 2021 as India won by 10 wickets.
That same year, Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by 10 wickets in Abu Dhabi in March, while Australia defeated South Africa by six wickets in Brisbane in December 2022. India returned to the list in January 2024 with a seven-wicket win over South Africa in Cape Town, followed by Australia’s eight-wicket victory over England in Perth in November 2025, before England’s five-wicket triumph over Australia at the MCG on December 26, 2025, completed the latest chapter. (Agencies)
