England captain Joe Root has declined to comment on whether his side would be prepared to travel to Perth for a fifth Test if they were required to enter a strict quarantine bubble.
Speaking in a press conference overnight, Root said a decision on the fifth and final Test would be up to Cricket Australia and the ECB to decide upon.
While Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley told SEN last month that they would do everything they can to host the fixture in WA, it remains the one Test that is still up in the air due to border restrictions.
If WA’s quarantine rules are too big a hurdle to jump, Cricket Australia will need to find an alternative venue, and former Test keeper Ian Healy says Melbourne could be preferred over other venues due to its big-crowd ability.
“There’s a couple of things to consider I suppose,” Healy said on SEN Pat and Heals.
“One is England’s opinion, England have to be a part of a decision like that I suppose if you’re rescheduling Perth.
“They (England) won’t want to come to Brisbane, but Australia probably would want to come to Brisbane.
“Australia playing the last Test last year in Brisbane they didn’t do any good, the wicket wasn’t up to scratch so maybe Australia might decide, ‘We’ll take another one to Melbourne’.”
Healy believes former Cricket Australia Chairman Earl Eddings stood down due to a lack of support from the WA cricket board as they were convinced not enough was being done to ensure the Test was played in Perth.
“This Perth Test cost the Cricket Australia Chairman his job, the Western Australian cricket board weren’t convinced there was enough being done to ensure the Perth Test would go ahead,” Healy explained.
“They certainly sprung into action, they’re certainly doing a lot of work, they were upset and they changed the support of the Chairman.”
At this stage, the fifth and final Ashes Test is due to be played at Perth’s Optus Stadium from January 14–18.