Not even the great Don Bradman drew such a crowd. At the MCG on Monday, 74,362 walked through the turnstiles, taking the total attendance of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and India to 373,691.The five-day attendance is now the largest for any Test in Australia. It eclipsed the 350,534 which watched the six-day Test between Australia and England at the MCG in 1937, where Bradman scored 270 in one of the performances of his career.Joel Morrison, Cricket Australia’s general manager for events and operations, said officials had been “blown away” by support of fans during the match. “The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is a blockbuster event, and it has been fantastic to see such strong attendances right across the summer,” he said.The record was set despite a lower-than-expected turnout on Boxing Day of 87,242. Every ticket had been sold, but temperatures close to 40 degrees celsius kept thousands of purchasers away. It left the crowd well short of the Boxing Day record of 91,112 set against England in 2013.View image in fullscreen The big screen at the MCG proclaims the record attendance of 373,691 at Test match in Australia. Photograph: Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesYet subsequent turnouts have exceeded expectations, with 85,147 coming on day two, 83,073 on day three and 43,867 on day four, Another surge on Monday pushed the crowd past the record.Melbourne Cricket Club chief executive, Stuart Fox, said it was a remarkable turnout and his organisation was proud of the record.“We could sense we were going to reach this significant attendance milestone – crowd figures we would have previously only associated with an Ashes series,” he said.“Breaking the all-time MCG Test match attendance is even more remarkable when you consider the 1936-37 [match] was played over six days, when the stadium had a capacity of about 88,000.”The match will not come near the record for the largest Test cricket attendance – over 465,000 watched the 1999 match between India and Pakistan at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.But the colourful stands and carnival atmosphere throughout the Boxing Day Test are proof of the status of the rivalry between Australia and India. Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley described the clash before the series as “the heavyweight bout that everyone wants to see”.skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to The Spin Free weekly newsletter Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s action Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotionView image in fullscreen Fans queue to enter the MCG on day five of the fourth Test between Australia and India.Photograph: Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesA large proportion of the attendance in Melbourne this year has been Indian supporters. Morrison praised the turnout, saying it “demonstrates the power of cricket to bring communities together”.At the start of Monday, both teams still had a chance to win, and fans took advantage of cheaper tickets. Adults were charged $10, and those aged 15 and under were allowed in free. “A big thank you to Australian cricket fans for your ongoing support of our great game,” Morrison said.The interest in this Test series has helped quieten critics of the five-day format, which now competes with one-dayers and T20 matches in the international calendar.Ashes clashes between Australia and England have retained their status as cricket’s most prestigious arena, and the growing rivalry in the Border-Gavaskar trophy – aided by India’s economic might – means Test cricket, at least among these three nations, appears in good health.The MCG will host another Test this summer. The multi-format women’s Ashes will conclude with a pink ball clash starting on 30 January.
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