Mark Richardson: Punchers chance for test to continue

We don't need excitement on Boxing Day. We need relaxation - although I admit Brendon McCullum provided amazement, but you get what I'm saying. Photo / Thinkstock

As I stood in the middle of Hagley Oval 30 minutes before the start of play on Boxing Day, I thought, 'this is great'.

There was a real sense of occasion and everyone I talked to from co-commentators to players, administrators, fans and even security guards seemed to be feeling the same.

The Boxing Day test, or lack of the Boxing Day test, has been a hole in the calendar since 2003. Its return has been welcomed and, when you couple that with the return of test cricket to Christchurch on a quite superb test-match ground, you really have quite the picture. Even the weather played its part.

Test cricket on Boxing Day provides an environment that ODIs and T20s cannot. For many, Boxing Day is their first day on holiday.

The build-up to Christmas is hectic and stressful. Christmas day can be busy but Boxing Day is a day to chill out.

Whoever in their right mind would want to put themselves through the frenzy of the Boxing Day sales just for a few bucks discount is beyond me and travelling on Boxing Day is no Sunday drive. But sitting on a grass embankment with the Christmas lunch leftovers and the box of chocolates Gran gave you sounds like a great way to begin the mental rejuvenation process.

ODIs and T20s carry too much urgency. The run rate, the need for boundaries and the expectation of the result destroy the serenity.

We don't need excitement on Boxing Day. We need relaxation - although I admit Brendon McCullum provided amazement, but you get what I'm saying.

I accept there's the financial lure for broadcasters and New Zealand Cricket to have a limited-overs game and also that days two through five of the test can revert to kind but day one on Boxing Day just works.

For six years, it was the Basin Reserve that reserved the right to host this traditional annual test which was possibly appropriate given the history and tradition of the Basin and the design of the ground. But it's not the case now.

A full house on Boxing Day in Christchurch was a vote of confidence in Hagley Oval but, to foster the sense of occasion, the hosting rights of the Boxing Day test should be shared around.

Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Hamilton all have ideal grounds to do the day justice and even places like Bay Oval in Mt Maunganui and Cobham Oval in Whangarei make a case. Perhaps it might even expedite the development of a test-appropriate ground in Auckland.

The point, though, is the Boxing Day test is a shot in the arm for test cricket in this country and long may it continue ... again.