Why is the New Year's Test important to South Africa?
The New Year's Test at Newlands in Cape Town has become a marquee fixture in Cricket South Africa's calendar over the years. In many countries, sport has become part of the Christmas season fabric and fans consider certain fixtures - like the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne - part of the rituals that accompany the holidays. With everyone in a festive mood, these fixtures are as much about social gatherings as they are about the sport. With schools generally shut for the week, families come out in large numbers, ensuring healthy attendance.
Since when has the New Year's Test been in existence?
The tradition of the New Year's Test at Newlands started in 1992-93, when South Africa were readmitted to the Test fold after two decades of isolation due to the apartheid era. Though South Africa hosted Tests around New Year's Day between the 1920s and 1970s, it became a planned fixture only after 1993. There has been a New Year's Test at Newlands in 19 of the 25 years since 1993.
So will a late start to the New Year's Test - on January 5 or 6 - next year affect the tradition?
Though it is still being billed as a New Year's Test, pushing it back by three days means the match will spill over into the second week of the year. With schools and offices reopening following the festival break, the holiday mood in Cape Town may have dissipated. This could in turn affect gate receipts.
Do all countries have similar traditional Test matches?
Australia also hosts a New Year's Test in Sydney from January 3. They also host the traditional Boxing Day from December 26 in Melbourne. South Africa often host the Boxing Day Tests at Kingsmead in Durban. While New Zealand have also marked such occasions by scheduling Tests, they haven't always been able to pencil these marquee dates into their calendar. In India, there were attempts to have a regular Pongal Test, in Chennai. Pongal, which is the season of harvest in Tamil Nadu, falls in the second or third week of January, when there's usually a four-day holiday. However, there hasn't been a Pongal Test since 1988.