Tasmania to match the net return of an MCG Ashes Test

Hobart’s bid for a first-ever Ashes Test – whenever Cricket Australia formally announces that Perth will lose the final match against England this summer – may come with a guarantee to match the net return from an equivalent fixture in Melbourne.

Confirmation that the fifth Test is to move out of Western Australia is expected to arrive early this week, before a decision is made as to the alternative venue in following days.

The Tasmanian government has formally requested Cricket Australia move the Perth Test to Hobart.Credit:Cricket Australia

A mounting reason for urgency surrounds the logistics of mid-January, with a host of Big Bash League fixtures needing to be shuffled, regardless of whether Hobart, Melbourne, or even Sydney gets the final nod.

Cricket Tasmania’s demand for regular international cricket as a one sixth owner of Cricket Australia has been sympathetically heard, particularly after the central governing body called off the scheduled Test against Afghanistan that was due to take place last week.

But even on a financial basis, CT and the Tasmanian state government have been arguing that a day/night Test match at Blundstone Arena will go close to matching whatever profit can be reaped from the comparatively massive MCG.

Sources with knowledge of negotiations told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that the Tasmanian government may be prepared to close, and even surpass, any gap in net return between hosting the game in Hobart and Melbourne, a figure thought to be in the region of $2 million.

The MCG, while capable of accommodating more than 90,000 spectators compared to Blundstone Arena’s 15,000 capacity, is also comparatively expensive to run. This means there is greater risk relative to the sorts of crowds turning up in the event of poor weather, or any future COVID-19 outbreaks in Melbourne.

At the same time, ticket sales for the Boxing Day Test have thus far been somewhat sluggish, thought in part to be because of conservatism among spectators about assembling in vast numbers. A turnout of nearly 40,000 Melbourne Demons supporters to relive their 2021 AFL premiership on Sunday went some way to reversing the trend.

Hobart, by contrast, is a much cheaper venue to open in terms of running costs, meaning that a surplus can start to accumulate more or less from the moment the first spectators walk into one of Blundstone Arena’s three main gates.

Of course, Hobart’s population of around 250,000 means that a vast per capita amount of the general population needs to turn up in order to fill the ground, something that has happened consistently for Hobart Hurricanes Big Bash League matches, but very seldom for a Test match.

But, in addition to financial considerations, the principle of equitably sharing matches around CA’s six state owners is one that has drawn more or less consensus nods of approval from what has, in recent times, been an otherwise fragmented cricket community.

So, even if the Victorian government and the MCG mount a lucrative counter-offer for the fifth Test to be played in Melbourne, they will be running up against a deeply entrenched tide of cricket’s federal system.

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