10 Christmas Characters and Their World Cricket Equivalents

One of the best aspects to international cricket over the festive period is that there's no shortage of action across the globe. 

As they do every year, thousands of fans in Melbourne will pack the MCG for the iconic Boxing Day Test to be contested this year between Australia and India. 

Across the Tasman, New Zealand will commence their Test series against Sri Lanka on the same day in Christchurch, while South Africa and the West Indies will also meet on Boxing Day to kick-start the second Test at Port Elizabeth. 

With the festive cheer coinciding with a great week of cricket, we've identified 10 players who have a thing or two in common with some famous Christmas characters.

Santa Claus (Rod Marsh)

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The most well-known Christmas character of all, Santa Claus, is the figure who symbolises the act of giving during this festive period. 

And who better to take on that mantle this Christmas than Australia's chairman of selectors Rod Marsh, who will pick 11 lucky Australian cricketers to represent their country in the iconic Boxing Day Test at the MCG in front of up to 100,000 fans. 

For a cricketer at this time of year, no gift is sweeter.

Marsh is the man to present it.

Shepherd (Darren Lehmann)

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When Darren Lehmann took over the Australian side just prior to the 2013 Ashes series in England, it was a tumultuous time for the nation. 

The dressing room appeared fractured, Michael Clarke's leadership looked under threat, team selection was a mess and the side was coming off a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of India. 

But under Lehmann, Australia have turned it all around. 

Despite a 3-0 loss to England in his first series (the scoreline didn't reflect the nature of the battle), the Aussies demolished England in the return series at home, before toppling South Africa over three Tests in the Rainbow nation.

Lehmann has also overseen his team capture a 2-0 lead over India amid difficult circumstances in the current series, helping him bolster his glowing reputation as a mentor and leader.

Scrooge (Giles Clarke)

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The England and Wales Cricket Board have had a disastrous 12 months from a public-relations point of view, stemming from the country's shocking trip to Australia for the 2013-14 Ashes contest. 

Sadly, the board failed to adequately handle practically everything: Jonathan Trott's departure from the Ashes tour, the axing of Kevin Pietersen, the ridiculous promotion of Andy Flower, the appointment of Peter Moores who'd been sacked from the same position five years ago, the apparent wish for censorship, the sole focus on revenue and the Pietersen "dossier."

Frankly, nearly any one of the ECB's prominent identities could have been labelled Scrooge. But we've gone with the board's chairman, Giles Clarke, who, per Cricket365.com, made the absurdly dumb comment that captain Alastair Cook is "a very good role model, and he and his family are very much the sort of people we want the England captain and his family to be."

In one short sentence, Clarke sucked the life out of cricket in England, telling the world that the archaic measure of social standing still matters to the out-of-touch administrators at the ECB.

Dominick the Donkey (Monty Panesar)

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It might have been some time ago now, but Monty Panesar gets the nod for Dominick the Donkey for urinating on bouncers out the front of a nightclub in Brighton in August last year. 

That led to the left-arm spinner being sacked from county club Sussex, only to see him earn a suspended one-game ban while playing for Essex in September for "potentially threatening and intimidating" behaviour.

This year, Panesar added to his growing list of forgettable moments when he missed a team meeting in June with Essex and was dropped from the county's squad for the following match.

Baby Jesus (Virat Kohli)

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OK, so Virat Kohli isn't quite the definition of a baby. He's 26 after all. 

But so much is expected of the precocious Indian star already, given what he's achieved in his career at such a young age. 

Already the owner of more than 9,000 international runs and 29 hundreds, Kohli is the latest gift to be given to the public in India who have always cherished their batting superstars. 

Perhaps the highest praise Kohli can be given is that he appears to be the heir to Sachin Tendulkar's throne as his country's pre-eminent player.

Jack Frost (MS Dhoni)

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Really, who else could be Jack Frost, the personification of wintery ice and sometimes depicted as a mischievous teenager refusing tradition before pleasantly maturing?

It's almost a perfect description for MS Dhoni, who entered international cricket from a humble upbringing with an unconventional flamboyance and a rock-star demeanour. 

But the Indian captain has evolved considerably, and he now leads his side with an ice-cool disposition having propelled India to the capture of the game's most sought-after honours during his tenure: the No. 1 ranking in Test cricket, a World Twenty20 title and a World Cup crown. 

Kevin McCallister (Bhuvneshwar Kumar)

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For this Christmas character, we're going to move away from those that are traditional and look toward a movie: Home Alone. 

One of the iconic festive-period films, Home Alone was the highest-grossing comedy of all time in the United States until Monsters, Inc. came along in 2001, per IMDb. Since, a plethora of other animated films have moved past the story of Kevin McCallister, but it remains a Christmas classic. 

And after a year where he's consistently been left on his own, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is our world cricket equivalent. 

During India's visit to England last summer, the young seamer found himself at the crease and deserted by his top-order team-mates all too often. But Kumar made a great fist of the regular occurrence, scoring plenty of useful runs to cover for Virat Kohli and Co. 

With his team now in Australia, Kumar has also been left out of the side because of an ankle injury. But again, he's done just fine, securing himself a Grade A contract from the BCCI during his time on the sidelines.

Elves (Australia's Medical Staff)

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Is anyone doing more work behind the scenes than Australia's medical staff right now? It's unlikely. 

After Michael Clarke's ailments (a shoddy back and a hamstring injury) and Ryan Harris' quadriceps problem in the first Test against India in Adelaide, those in charge of player well-being in the Australian setup were forced into overdrive in Brisbane when soaring temperatures on Day 1 got the better of the hosts. 

Mitchell Marsh left the field with a hamstring injury, Mitchell Starc was overcome by heat exhaustion, sore ribs and a sore back and Josh Hazlewood cramped so severely all over his body he had to leave the field before stumps. 

Chris Rogers and Shane Watson have also received blows during the series and in training, respectively, that temporarily left the pair shaken, while David Warner was hit on the thumb during the second Test. 

Like the elves, Australia's medical staff are working tirelessly without public recognition.

Jack Skellington (Kevin Pietersen)

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The character of Jack Skellington at Christmas is defined by his impulsiveness, fame, talent, charisma and yearning for more.

As such, the similarities are most striking with Kevin Pietersen, the now-sacked England superstar who split public opinion with his flair, outspoken manner and impulsiveness, but he ultimately found himself discarded by a conservative administration that preferred to continue without him. 

For Skellington, the story goes that he almost caused the destruction of Christmas. 

Pietersen, though hardly the only one at fault, almost did the same to an entire English regime.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Steve Smith)

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There was a time in Steve Smith's career where he was viewed as an outcast in the Australian team. 

Derided for a shoddy batting technique and his loose leg-spinners, Smith was a point of frustration for the country's fans and, at the time, looked out of place at the international level. 

It seemed the nation's selectors couldn't decide what to do with him either. Used as everything from a specialist batsman, to a spinner, to a batting all-rounder, to a bowling all-rounder, and everything in between, the New South Welshman's identity as a player was as confusing as his ongoing selection to the side. 

But not anymore. Now, Smith is a star on the rise in Australia having completed a stunning 12 months that have propelled him to captaincy. 

A little Rudolph-like?