Hobart officially confirmed as venue for fifth Ashes Test

Hobart, Dec 11 (IANS) Cricket Australia (CA) on Saturday officially confirmed that the Blundstone Arena here will host the fifth and final Ashes Test from January 14 after Perth's hosting rights were taken away due to stringent Western Australia (WA) border controls and tough quarantine rules.

Reports had emerged on Friday that Hobart would beat the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) but the confirmation came on Saturday from Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley.

Hockley said several factors were taken into consideration before announcing Hobart as the venue for the fifth Test, including the loss of the one-off Test against Afghanistan earlier this year.

"I would like to thank all the States and Territories who took part in this process. The submissions we received were outstanding and we had no doubt that each of the venues that took part would have hosted a wonderful event," Hockley said in a statement.

"We considered a range of factors, including commercial, logistical and operational considerations and on the balance of these the CA board agreed on Blundstone Arena being the most appropriate venue to host the fifth Vodafone Men's Ashes Test match.

"We also acknowledge the postponement of the Australia and Afghanistan Test due to take place in Hobart earlier in the year played a part in the decision," Hockley was quoted as saying by sen.com.au.

CA was left with no choice but to take away the fifth Test from Perth after the state's Premier, Mark McGowan, said a 14-day hard quarantine was the prerequisite for any team entering Western Australia.