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Crowds will flock to Hobart Test: Gutwein

3 minute read

The fifth men's Ashes Test will be a pink-ball match in Hobart, with Tasmania Premier Peter Gutwein dismissing Shane Warne's criticism related to crowd sizes.

JUSTIN LANGER.
 JUSTIN LANGER. Picture: Morne de Klerk/Getty Images

Tasmania Premier Peter Gutwein is adamant cricket fans will prove Shane Warne wrong and flock to the fifth men's Ashes Test, which shapes as a bittersweet moment for Tim Paine.

Cricket Australia (CA) has confirmed the series finale, beginning on January 14 and originally set to take place in Perth, will be a day-night Test in Hobart.

Bellerive hasn't hosted a Test since 2016, while it has never featured in any Ashes series.

Gutwein's government tipped in $4 million to seal the deal, although CA could obviously have banked a bigger cheque by opting for a second Test at the MCG or SCG after border-exemption talks with Western Australia broke down.

Warne criticised CA for making the "very strange" decision to brush his home state of Victoria, arguing "one of the reasons Hobart lost their Test was that nobody was turning up".

Gutwein quipped Warne has "been bowled by a Tassie flipper".

"We're going to put on a fantastic spectacle," he said.

"I am absolutely confident Tasmanians will turn up in droves, but also that we're going to see significant interstate visitors and international visitors.

"This top-level international event will be the biggest sporting event our state has ever hosted ... it demonstrates a small state can punch well above its weight."

The record crowd for a day of Test cricket in Hobart is 12,254, while the coronavirus-safe capacity for each day of the Ashes Test will be 14,000.

"We can disregard all crowd numbers from the past," Cricket Tasmania chief executive Dominic Baker said.

"There's been a lot of talk 'Tasmanians don't turn up', well I think this is the one time they will.

"An Ashes is something absolutely special.

"The day-night format really plays into our hands."

CA counterpart Nick Hockley noted the postponement of last month's Australia-Afghanistan Test in Hobart was one of several factors that prompted his organisation to pick Hobart.

The governing body was desperate to find a solution that pleased broadcasters, players and its state-association shareholders.

Hockley thanked England's cricket board and players for embracing a second pink-ball Test, and backed Hobart to produce a pitch befitting the occasion.

Paine was, before tearfully resigning as Australia's captain because of a sexting scandal, publicly pushing for Hobart to be part of this Test summer.

The proud Tasmanian, who is on a mental-health break after sidelining himself from the Ashes, has never played a Test in his home state and is unlikely to ever play for Australia again.

"I'm sure there will be a little bit of bittersweet-ness there," Baker said.

"But we know he's a fine character and he'd be very, very happy today that this Test match is going ahead.

"He's been a huge supporter of our organisation. Club cricket and Cricket Tasmania are really at his heart."

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