MELBOURNE: Hobart’s Bellerive Oval has officially won the rights to host its first ever Ashes clash as the venue for the fifth Test in the ongoing series – which will be the second day-night fixture – after seeing off competition from the much larger MCG and SCG.
Australia’s ABC News first broke the news that a joint Cricket Tasmania and Tasmanian government bid to host the fifth Ashes Test was rubber stamped by Cricket Australia on Thursday night, ahead of proposals from Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT.
The fifth Test, which starts on January 14, 2022, will be a day-night clash under lights.
Earlier this week, Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein urged Cricket Australia to “make history, not money” while pitching his state’s case.
On the money part, it needs noting that the Bellerive Oval, with its 20,000-seater capacity, cannot match up with the revenues generated in ticket sales at the far bigger MCG, SCG or Adelaide Oval.
Hobart had also been endorsed by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison who declared he was “in the Tassie camp” and that it “would be great to see Tasmania share in this Ashes series”.
Tasmania was set to play host to Afghanistan in an historic one-off Test earlier this month, but that fixture was scrapped due to political circumstances.
