Australia are primed to take a two-nil lead in the Ashes by the time Monday is finished, but a shock new revelation has come to light over the decision to award the fifth Test to Hobart.
While it was thought Cricket Australia awarded the fifth Test to Hobart - which will be played as a day-night affair under lights - as a result of wanting to have a new state involved in the Ashes after Melbourne, Sydney and the Australian Capital Territory all made bids.
Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein was among the most vocal of those pushing for the Test to arrive in Hobart, with Cricket Australia eventually confirming the news.
It will be the first time in history Hobart has hosted an Ashes Test.
While Melbourne has a much larger capacity at the Melbourne Cricket Ground than Hobart's Blundstone Arena, it's thought low Boxing Day ticket sales were part of the reason Cricket Australia opted for Hobart, according to a Daily Telegraph report.
It's understood that when Cricket Australia made the announcement, ticket sales were lagging, following a concerning trend in the Big Bash League where games are being played right around the country in front of largely empty houses.
That trend has been bucked in the last week though, with Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test now having around 70,000 tickets sold, according to the report, meaning it will be the largest Australian crowd since the beginning of the pandemic.
