Victorian sports minister Martin Pakula says the Melbourne Cricket Ground's case to host a historical day-night encounter as the fifth Ashes Test is an "undeniable one".

Perth Stadium was officially stripped of the fixture last Monday, after Western Australia's border and quarantine policies were considered too onerous, leaving other states vying for the rights to host the match.

Speaking to The Age, Pakula said the MCG's assets would make it impossible to for other venues to match - in a commercial sense - citing his state's capacity of 100,000.

“We have an opportunity to play a day-night Test on the hallowed turf of the MCG for the first time ever – and it will be an Ashes Test to boot,” Pakula said.

“For the players – both the Australians and the touring English team – the opportunity to play a day-night Ashes Test at the ’G is something we don’t think they will want to pass up.

"On whatever level you look at this, and particularly given that the MCG will have had a rest after the Boxing Day Test, the case for this match to be played at the MCG is a very strong one, and we hope that Cricket Australia will see things the same way."

Tender documents were sent by Cricket Australia (CA) to all state and territory governments, venues and cricket associations, who will be bidding for the rights to host the fifth Test.

The MCG and Bellerive Oval appear to be the front-runners, but the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) has also launched a bid to host back-to-back Tests. The ability to stage a pink-ball fixture is stipulated as a major consideration in awarding the eventual venue.

CA is expected to announce a decision within the next week or two, with other critical factors regarding the decision, including:

  • Capacity to deliver the event within existing COVID-19 protocols for the relevant state or territory
  • Ability to accommodate all operational match requirements, which includes broadcast needs and additional measures such as DRS as mandated by the International Cricket Council
  • Commercial considerations, such as projected forecasts on ticket sales
  • Logistical issues, including capacity to provide adequate hotel accommodation for players and their families, match officials, match staff and broadcast crews for duration of the Test and its preamble

A day-night fixture on the eastern seaboard would counterweight losing the Perth match in a conciliatory move that maintains the broadcasters' interests in having the Test played during 'prime time' in the east.

The Age is also reporting that broadcasters would prefer the match to be played at the MCG or the SCG. Holding the game at the MCG is thought to best meet most commercial criteria, with a return of $22 million expected.

Reports suggest that England would also prefer a day-night Test at the MCG and the tourists would be required to agree to adding a second day-night fixture to the series.

 

However, Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein has demonstrated his interest in staging the game in Hobart as far back as early November when he claimed WA's border policies "demanded that the game be moved".

RELATED: Western Australia's last ditch effort to host the fifth Test

Gutwein said this was CA's chance to make history, given Hobart has never hosted an Ashes Test before and insisted that Bellerive Oval is capable of hosting a day-nighter.

"Don't double up, don't give Melbourne or Sydney a second Test. Make history in Tasmania," Gutwein said.

"We'll be putting forward a proposal to Cricket Australia in the next 24 hours. I've spoken to [Cricket Australia CEO] Nick Hockley yesterday, and I'll be speaking to him again today.

"We're going to put forward our best foot on this. My message is, don't be seduced by the bigger states. This is more than the bottom line, this is your chance to make history.

"We'll make anything work, a day night Test out of Tasmania I think would be a fantastic opportunity. But again we're prepared to work with Cricket Australia because we want, with them, to make history."

Bellerive Oval was due to host a one-off Test match against Afghanistan in November, which was cancelled in the wake of the Taliban takeover of the country. Hobart has not hosted a Test match since Australia's crushing defeat to South Africa in 2016.

Australian cricket is a federal system, of which Cricket Tasmania has been a part for several decades and CA's interests in sharing matches equitably across its six owner states must be considered.

A report by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age suggested that a Hobart Test may reap the same commercial return as an equivalent fixture in Melbourne.

The Tasmanian government could be prepared to "close, or even surpass, any gap in return between hosting the game in Hobart or Melbourne"—a figure estimated at around $2 million AUD.