Not going anywhere: SACA rebuffs WA claim to Ashes Test
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Adelaide Oval’s day-night Test match, due to start in a mere 10 days’ time, will not be going to Perth under any circumstances, despite a ludicrous bid from the West Australian Sports Minister Tony Buti to have the second game of the Ashes series moved.
Cricket Australia is expected to formally announce that Perth has lost the fifth Ashes Test in mid-January in the next 24-48 hours.
This will be due to the impossibility of the WA government relaxing bans on players’ partners and families entering the state from New South Wales, the venue for the fourth Test at the SCG.
A request for players and staff on both sides, plus match officials and broadcast production staff, to spend 14 days in quarantine conditions around the Perth Test has also been refused.
Ashes combatants on both sides were adamant they would not have to resubmit to quarantine conditions once they had completed an initial 14 days in a resort on the Gold Coast.
The South Australian Cricket Association, meanwhile, made it plain on Monday that the second Test would not be going anywhere.
Day-night Tests at Adelaide Oval have become part of the calendar.Credit:Getty
“The second Ashes Test will proceed at Adelaide Oval in 10 days’ time. There has been no suggestion that a schedule change for the Adelaide Test will be considered,” the SACA’s acting chief executive Jodie Newton said.
“The Adelaide day-night Test is the biggest annual event in South Australia, and no tour is bigger than the Ashes. South Australians are looking forward to Alex Carey making his Test debut this week and Travis Head returning to the national side as we celebrate SACA’s 150th year.
“Adelaide Oval is a global icon and historic ground with a proud reputation of delivering incredible Test matches”.
Tickets have been on sale for the game since the middle of the year, while the mid-December timeslot has now become a customary destination for spectators from all over the state and – borders permitting – the rest of the country.
Buti, who in recent days suggested that no international cricket was played in the eastern states last summer – something that would have come as a surprise to India’s victorious tourists – claimed that it was a “no-brainer” to hold the second Test in Perth.
“If cricket isn’t able to meet our border rules for fifth Test in Perth, then they should move the second Test to Perth instead,” Buti told The West Australian.
“It’s a no-brainer. As long as Queensland stays COVID-free then the teams can fly in ahead of the pink ball day-night Test, which is due to start on December 16.
“The simple solution would be to bring that Test here while South Australia manages its COVID outbreak. Adelaide can then host the fifth Test originally scheduled for Perth.”
More to come
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