The MCG attendance has shattered previous records for a test match that was liberated during the fourth test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
A total of 350,700 spectators flocked to the iconic venue, surpassing the previous record of 350,535 during the 1937 Ashes. During lunch on day 05, the crowd count reaches 51,371 pushing the total attendance past the historic mark.
On Sunday, MCG registered for a Boxing Day Test. A total of 43,867 people turned up to watch the fourth day’s play, making it 299,329 people in attendance.
The Previous highest attendance for a Boxing Day was in 2013, against England where the attendance exceeded a total of 271,855.
“Day 5 current attendance is 51,371. The total attendance of 350,700 is the greatest for any Test match at the MCG, exceeding the total of 350,534 against England in 1937 over six days. This is also the greatest attendance for any Test match played in Australia,” Cricket Australia announced in a statement.
🚨 ALL-TIME MCG TEST ATTENDANCE RECORD 🚨
We’ve officially surpassed the attendance record set in 1936/37 when Australia faced England — a Test which spanned six days! pic.twitter.com/Kykmz8KY65
— Melbourne Cricket Ground (@MCG) December 30, 2024
The Boxing Day of Australia vs India tests has now become the second-highest attended game in Test cricket history, behind only the 1999 India-Pakistan Test at Eden Gardens, which had an extraordinary spectators list of 465,000 over the course of the match.
Melbourne Cricket Club boss Stuart Fox expressed his amazement at the unprecedented turnout. “I’ve not seen anything like it at a cricket match,” told Fox.
“The spirit in the stadium was incredible. All of our staff on day one said how happy the crowd were. I thought Taylor Swift was big, but this has been something else,” he added.
Australia set a target of 339 by the start of day 05 and India has been struggling with the batting line up once again, losing five wickets in the third session for 127 runs.
Jaiswal smashed half century and continues to score for the visitors. Meanwhile, Nitish Reddy who smashed a century in the first innings joined Jaiswal aiming for a good partnership at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
