Shane Warne slams reports Hobart won the fifth Ashes Test: ‘No one turned up’

While not yet official, Shane Warne has teed off on reports Cricket Australia decided to play the fifth Ashes Test in Hobart.

Hobart is reportedly set to win the battle for the fifth Ashes Test, beating out the SCG, MCG and Canberra’s Manuka Oval for the finale to the famous series.

While Cricket Australia is yet to officially announce who has won the right to host the Test, Fox Cricket reported it was set to be announce that Blundstone Arena had won the bid to host the final Ashes Test.

An official Cricket Australia announcement is not expected on Friday evening despite the reports.

Hobart’s Mercury reportedthe news, citing sources which said Hobart had “unanimous support of the CA board”.

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Earlier in the day, The Australian’s Peter Lalor revealed on Twitter Hobart was set to be unveiled as the fifth Test venue, after Optus Stadium was ruled out due to Western Australia’s border restrictions.

“Everyone I speak to is confident that Hobart will be awarded fifth Test today. There is no official confirmation. Watch this space,” Lalor tweeted.

It would be Hobart’s first ever Ashes Test and comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Hobart should be the location for the match.

Hobart is expected to be named as the fifth Test venue. Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images

And Shane Warne wasn’t particularly happy.

When it appeared as though Perth was going to lose the match, Warne called for the fifth Test to go to the MCG and give Victorians a second Test in the series, completing the series in a day/nighter in Melbourne.

“Now that the 5th #ashes test will not be played in Perth due to the Govt’s stringent quarantine regulations. My suggestion is that the 5th ashes test should be back at the MCG & played as a D/N test,” Warne posted on Twitter in late November. “So, traditional Boxing Day then Syd then back to MCG for a D/N match!”

Fox Sports reported the MCG fell out of favour for another match because of sluggish ticket sales for the Boxing Day Test and BBL games at the ground.

On Fox Cricket commentary with Mark Waugh and Isa Guha, Warne hit back at Tasmania’s appeal to get the match, as the ground has not historically been able to attract crowds.

Waugh said while it can’t match the MCG crowd, Blundstone Arena has a 20,000 seat capacity.

Warne wasn’t sure that number was entirely right but still said five days at capacity couldn’t beat one day of capacity at the MCG.

“I’m very happy for the people of Hobart – congratulations if that’s the case – but I wouldn’t have done it that way,” he said.

“If it’s 2-all, or 2-1, 1-0, whatever it may be, you want to be fair to the fans all over Australia. And I don’t think you can fit them all in at Hobart.

“I just would have liked us to cater for everyone, 15,000 with all of Australia and international guests, I just don’t think you’ll get people in there. But well done to Hobart. They always put on a great series down there, a great event but I wouldn’t have done it with only 15,000 people.

“One of the reasons Hobart lost its Test match was that no one was turning up. Let’s hope the people turn out, let’s hope it’s still alive the series and Hobart can squeeze in 15,000 people.”

Shane Warne isn’t entirely happy with the decision. Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Warne soon came back with the largest ever match attendance over the length of a Test in Hobart, which was 29,186 at Australia Vs West Indies in 2005/06. The match did go until early on day five. 12,154 was the biggest attendance for a single day.

Hobart has hosted 13 Tests in its history and was meant to host the match between Australia and Afghanistan until it was cancelled.

Mark Waugh said: “Well they better turn up, if they don’t, they might not get another Test match.”

“It just makes the decision to play the fifth Test in Hobart very strange,” Warne added.

After being goaded by Waugh, Warne replied: “Mate, I’ll say it again in case you weren’t listening the first time, I have no issue with Hobart, I love going down to Hobart. But when the most you’ve ever had in a crowd is 29,000 people, let’s hope they turn up. It’s why they lost it in the first place.”