How To Watch The Boxing Day Test Live, Online And Free

Even though Australia have already demolished England and reclaimed the Ashes, there’s still two more Test matches to play. The fourth test – The Boxing Day Test – is an Australian institution, the perfect way to unwind the day after Christmas, wake yourself out of the food coma you’ve found yourself in and watch us smash the poms.

Here’s how you can catch all the action from the Boxing Day Test live, online and free.

Yes, it’s that time of the bi-year again, when Australia and England’s best cricketers face off to claim an urn of charred cricket bail ash no bigger than a Coke can. It’s one of the biggest events on the Australian sporting calendar and a fixture of the summer, so without further ado – here’s how you can join in on the fun.

What Is The Ashes?

The Ashes are a five match Test cricket series played in both England and Australia, with the home team alternating between the two nations every couple of years. You win the Ashes trophy – a tiny 15cm tall urn – by winning the five game series.

The winner then holds the Ashes and can retain them simply by drawing the five game series the next time it is played. Before this series, England held the Ashes after they won on their home turf back in 2015.

At present, a nice 69 series have been played between the two nations, with 32 wins a piece and five drawn series.

Australia currently has an unassailable 3-0 lead in the 2017-18 series, taking the first test in Brisbane, the second test in Adelaide and the third test in WA – therefore reclaiming the Ashes!

Where Is The Boxing Day Test Match Played?

The Boxing Day Test is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Victoria.

When Is The Ashes 2017?

The Boxing Day Test begins December 26 at 10:30am AEDT.

Test matches can last for up to five days, so you’ll need to tune in from 10:30am AEDT every day if you’re trying to catch all the bat-and-ball action you can.

Here’s that time for the Boxing Day Test in all Australian capital cities:

• Perth, WA: 7:30am
• Darwin, NT: 9am
• Brisbane, QLD: 09:30am
• Adelaide, SA: 10am
• Sydney, NSW: 10:30am
• Canberra, ACT: 10:30am
• Melbourne, VIC: 10:30am
• Hobart, TAS: 10:30am

How To Watch The Ashes 2017

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/12/how-to-watch-the-ashes-2017-live-online-and-free/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/12/davidwarner-410×231.jpg” title=”How To Watch The Ashes 2017 Live, Online And Free [Updated]” excerpt=”Ali vs Frazier. Harding vs Kerrigan. Vader vs Kenobi. The NBN vs the entire country of Australia. These are the great rivalries of our histories. In the world of cricket, there’s no greater rivalry than that of England vs Australia in the five match Test extravaganza known as ‘The Ashes’.

After taking the first three tests, Australia reclaimed the Ashes, but the series is by no means over! The fourth test is well underway. Here’s how you can watch the action – on TV or live, online and free!”]

Australians are no doubt familiar that summer cricket matches are the chief domain of Channel Nine, who manage to show plenty of the game in between KFC ads. If you want to catch the game on free to air TV, then you will need to tune into Channel Nine from 09:30am AEDT today. Unfortunately, 9Now does not allow you to stream the Ashes through their dedicated app so you’ll have to find alternate means if you’re away from a TV and want to stream.

You could also invest in a VPN and set it to a location in the UK that broadcasts the game. This should grant you access to a live streaming service originating in England – but I understand that it’d be grating for Aussie fans to listen to the Poms applaud their squad all afternoon.

I haven’t personally tested this theory out yet, but it appears that BT Sport have the rights to the Ashes in the UK. Their online live streaming service is something you need to sign up for so I wouldn’t recommend this option for anyone Down Under – though it does exist. Note that a VPN does cost money and is a little difficult to fully understand, so head to our handy guide to work out which VPN works best for you. Outside of watching the Ashes, a great VPN is a must-have these days anyway.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2016/12/five-best-vpn-service-providers-for-2016/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/VPN-410×231.jpg” title=”The Five Best VPNs For 2017″ excerpt=”We last updated our list of best VPN providers in 2014, but a lot has changed since then. With Netflix blocking VPNs and privacy becoming more of a concern than ever, the parameters of a good VPN for Aussie users have shifted. Some popular choices have fallen out of favour of late, so we’ve had a look at what VPN users in Australia are recommending now and for the year ahead.”]

You could also sign up for a subscription to Cricket.com.au but this will set you back $29.99 a year – a pretty reasonable price if you’ve exhausted all your options – and it’s great if you’re passionate about your fours and sixes because it gives you access to every Big Bash League T20 match over the summer.

On the other hand, if a yearly pass isn’t your thing, then you can always grab a 24 hour pass for $5.99 but that seems exorbitant, considering streaming just five days will set you back the full cost of a year. The option is there though.
If you’re an Optus customer and are eligible for Optus sport, you’re covered for the entire summer of cricket already, you’ll just need to activate your subscription.

According to one reader, the RedBox TV Android Package Kit (APK) may give some Android users the stream they’re after. The APK basically works like an executable file, installing the ‘app’ onto your Android device. Then it gives you access to over 1000 live TV channels from around the world. We haven’t tried this method on Lifehacker yet – it just seems a little dodgy – but their Facebook page is rife with praise.

My last recommendation is to always keep one eye firmly planted on the Reddit cricket community. They have a fantastic wiki full of useful information and ways to stream for those trying to watch the Ashes outside of the usual sources posted above. There’s a vibrant, global community on Reddit that tend to help each other out with these sorts of things so no matter where you’re coming from, you should be able to find what you’re after.

One of their livestream links includes watchcric.org which does usually give a few different streaming channels to catch the Ashes on although the quality isn’t ideal.