Cricket Australia have officially stripped Perth of hosting rights to the fifth Test of the Ashes.
That follows the shock revelation this morning that the Western Australian state government had put together a final hour proposal in an attempt to swap Tests with Adelaide.
Under Western Australian government border rules - which state premier Mark McGowan has seemed unwilling to budge from - residents from Queensland don't need to quarantine on entry to Western Australia.
Those from New South Wales and Victoria however, do, making it untenable to hold a Test in Perth just five days after the fourth of the series is set to wrap up in Sydney.
The proposal would have seen Adelaide instead host the fifth Test, however, the Western Australian government were laughed out of the building by their South Australian counterparts, and Cricket Australia have, as a result, made the call this afternoon that Test cricket won't be played in Perth this summer.
Cricket Australia confirmed discussions are underway to find a replacement, but the board rejected to outright name a new venue at this stage.
"While absolutely every effort was made to ensure the final Test match of the series could be staged in Perth, border controls, quarantine requirements and the complexities of staging a five-Test series in a tight schedule have meant it is unfortunately not possible to align the respective priorities of the WA Government, CA and WA Cricket," CA said in a statement.
"These complexities also mean that any suggestion of changing the order of the venues would not be feasible.
"Discussions about a replacement venue for the fifth Test match are underway."
It has been reported that Tasmania - and Hobart's Blundstone Arena - is the favourite to host the fifth Test, however, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney - where the teams will already be for the fourth Test - are also all in the running.
It's understood that wherever the fourth Test is held, it will need to be under lights in a Day-Night format to offset the original time difference which would have appealed to broadcasters with the majority of the population back at work.
It means the Ashes, for the first time ever, will see two Tests played under lights, while the potential decider will also be of the day-night variety. It would also be the first time Hobart has ever hosted an Ashes Test, something premier Peter Gutwein has been heavily in favour of.
