England’s fifth Ashes Test against Australia will no longer be played in Perth amid the Covid-19 restrictions currently in place across Western Australia.
The Test match was due to get underway on January 14 at Perth’s 61,000- seater Optus Stadium.
However, the entire state of Western Australia now has a 14-day quarantine in place after the emergence of the Omicron variant.
While it’s not clear where the final Test of the series will be help as of yet, discussions are underway to determine a replacement, with Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Hobart among the potential venues.
Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley has said that he is disappointed by the news, but added that they did everything they could to get the match on.
‘We did everything we could in partnership with the Western Australia government and Western Australia Cricket to make it work under the current border and health arrangements, but unfortunately this was not possible,’ he added.
“We are particularly disappointed for Western Australian cricket fans who were so looking forward to seeing the first ever Ashes Test at the new stadium.’
Speaking last week, England’s managing director Ashley Giles pledged to do everything he can to make sure the series runs as smoothly as possible, while also adding that there was some concerns within the visitor’s camp over the forever changing Covid-19 situation Down Under.
‘There are going to be changes to border controls in terms of our families being allowed to travel and we clearly hope that’s not going to affect us. But we are in the hands of national and local governments,’ Giles said.
‘We always knew things could change. I guess we hoped things would change positively as we went through the series but, as we’ve been aware over the last two years with variants, things can also change negatively.
‘Can we prepare for everything? It’s not really possible actually because of the big moving parts even around quarantine times and rules around different states.
‘We will do everything we can to make sure the families are accommodated and of course that the players are happy.’
The series is due to get underway at the Gabba in Brisbane on December 8, before the teams head to Adelaide for the second Test, which begins on December 16.
MORE : England and Australia hold Ashes crisis talks amid concerns that the Omicron Covid-19 variant could disrupt series
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