The fifth Ashes Test between England and Australia might not be held in Perth due to strict quarantine guidelines.
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The possibility of hosting the fifth test in Perth has taken a huge blow after West Australian Premier Mark McGowan confirmed that the quarantine rules won’t be bent for anybody.
Earlier this year, Mark McGowan was very confident that the final Ashes Test will be held at the Optus Stadium. He asserted now that the players will have to complete a 14-day quarantine period after the detection of the new mutated Covid-19 variant named ‘Omicron’.
“We have put in place very strict rules,” McGowan said.
“So, we’ve said to them, ‘You need to have 14 days quarantine’. And that has to apply to all the broadcast staff, the cricket staff.
“They can’t just bring wives and girlfriends with them — same rules as we put in place for the AFL.
“It’s up to them whether they want to adhere to those rules or not.”
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The fifth test is scheduled to start from January 14 just five days after the Sydney test. Therefore, it is very much unlikely that Perth can retain hosting rights especially if broadcast staff must be under strict quarantine rules for the duration of the match.
WA Cricket Association chief executive Christina Matthews said on the weekend that there is a 97% possibility of the fifth Ashes test being held at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
“I’d probably say at the moment I’m 50-50,” Matthews told ABC Grandstand on Saturday.
“I’d gone as high as 97 per cent, but I’ve gone back to 50-50. We’ll wait and see.”
“We’re slowly working on things behind the scenes. There’s great co-operation between Cricket Australia and the state government and us as well,” Matthews said.
“It’s fair to say there’s a few hurdles to get across, but the beauty is we don’t have to make a decision tomorrow.
“We’re trying to imagine what it might be like in mid-January as opposed to what it’s like today. “As everybody knows, our government has very well-known and strict protocols around different things and it’s a matter of time whether cricket can meet those demands or not.”
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