won two Tests in a series against England since 1961 and the first time that they had been 2–0 up against the old enemy since 1958–59. Third Test – Melbourne Preliminaries Colin Cowdrey and John Edrich were unable to practice on Christmas Eve – mainly because of the drizzling rain but also because Cowdrey wanted to spend his birthday in comparative peace. Since both batsmen wanted to feel the ball on bat before the Test, I volunteered the use of the Hawthorn Indoor Cricket Centre, in which I was a partner, for a two-hour work-out on Christmas morning. It was quite a contrast to open the children's presents in the early hours and to open the bowling at the two English batsmen before lunch. My fifteen old son, Philip, thought the latter experience to be quite the best of his Christmas presents. Frank Tyson By long tradition the Victoria–New South Wales Sheffield Shield match began on Boxing Day at the MCG, much to the chagrin of the NSW players who missed Christmas with their families as a result. But with six Tests to fit into the season this game was moved and the Third Test was held instead, thus beginning the current tradition of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. Australia kept an unchanged team from Perth, but the England team had a few changes. Dennis Amiss and John Edrich had recovered enough to play again after having their hands broken in the First Test at Brisbane, though Edrich's hand was still sore. The out of form Brian Luckhurst and Keith Fletcher were dropped to make room. Geoff Arnold and Chris Old were also dropped as the now fit Mike Hendrick and the spinner Derek Underwood returned to the team, Old somewhat unfairly as he had played well at Perth. This gave England only two fast bowlers, Bob Willis and Arnold, the medium pace and off-cutters of Tony Greig and the spin of Fred Titmus and Underwood. The Melbourne Cricket Ground was slower than it had ever been, with low bounce that would limit the effectiveness of the Australian fast bowling attack. Ian Chappell won the toss for the third time in a row and became the first captain in history to put the opposition in to bat in successive Tests. The day was overcast and as good for bowling as it would ever be at the MCG and Chappell