The true meaning of Christmas

This whole business of a white Christmas is all very well, but where I come from the ideal Christmas is hot, sunny, and accompanied by a bbq. And there are presents and whatnot, but that's all just preparation for Boxing Day. On December 26 each year, the Melbourne Cricket Ground fills up to see the Boxing Day Test. It's only one in a series of three or five against whichever team is visiting Australia at the time, but it's often the best of the series, and the crowd is always the biggest of the series.

I always used to be there. In 1981, however, I was only there for day 2, which was unfortunate, because I missed the best finish to a day's cricket in living memory. My boyhood hero Dennis Lillee, set to break the world record for wickets taken the next day, smashed through the great West Indies lineup to set Australia on course for an unlikely victory. In those days, we'd go along just to admire the West Indians, who pretty much crushed everyone from 1976 to 1994. The idea of beating them really didn't occur- so this was a very special match indeed.

This year, India is in town. They regularly lose on Australian soil, and gain revenge back in India. We'll see how things pan out. In the meantime, c'mon Aussie, c'mon...