Tasmania is reportedly firming to host the fifth and final Ashes Test.
While the match, to be held from January 14, was originally set down for Optus Stadium in Perth, that has almost certainly been scuppered thanks to the Western Australian government's strict quarantine restrictions.
It would mean all players and staff from both the teams and broadcast would need to spend 14 days in quarantine before the commencement of the match, while players partners and families would be unable to attend the state.
That makes the option of playing the match in Perth unfeasible, with the English touring party moving as one unit, and the Perth Test scheduled to begin just five days after the fourth Test in Sydney finishes.
It means Cricket Australia has been locked in discussions to find a new venue, and while the Melbourne Cricket Ground was fought to be the financially best option for the game given the potential ability to have a higher crowd, Tasmania have made a large push for the Test.
The Daily Telegraph are reporting that, with a board meeting today, a decision is likely to be made, and that Tasmania is the favourite for Cricket Australia.
It's understood that, regardless of where the Test is held, it needs to be a day-night encounter to offset the time zone change from Western Australia. A day match in Perth would have meant the final session could be broadcast in prime time on the east coast, and with the majority of the population back at work, that is a detail broadcasters won't be prepared to move from.
But with Tasmania having never hosted an Ashes Test, Cricket Australia reportedly see a day-night Test in Hobart as the ideal way to close the series, rather than a second encounter in Melbourne following the Boxing Day Test, and Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein has laid down the challenge to Cricket Australia to play the match in Hobart and "create history."
“This is CA’s opportunity to make history,” Mr Gutwein said.
“We’ve never had an Ashes Test in Australia and importantly the Ashes are the pinnacle of Test cricket.
“We’ll have the biggest travelling show, which is Test cricket here, and importantly the biggest travelling circus, which is the Barmy Army.”
Tasmania are set to lift COVID restrictions on travellers from interstate in the coming weeks, meaning the Test in Hobart is on the cards.
