Manuka Oval available should Perth Ashes Test be moved

WA Premier Mark McGowan has banned players' wives and girlfriends from traveling west for the match scheduled for January 14, and has maintained his stance on a two-week quarantine for all newcomers to the state after the emergence of the Omicron virus strain.

McGowan on Tuesday rejected the possibility of players completing a shortened quarantine stint, given the five-day gap between the fourth and fifth Ashes Tests.

That came after WA Cricket chief Christina Matthews said on the weekend that a Perth Test was now just a "50-50" chance of being played.

"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."

Cricket Australia already has a shortlist of alternative venues to host the fifth Test should WA's border restrictions prevent the match being played at the 60,000-seater Optus Stadium.

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Canberra is believed to be on the list, but a few rungs down the pecking order. The capital will host another blockbuster of cricket this summer including two Big Bash games and a Women's Ashes Test match, all at Manuka Oval.

The Meteors are scheduled to play WA at Manuka in a WNCL fixture on January 11, before a 16-day break at the venue leading into the women's Test.

That window would allow a men's Ashes Test to nestle comfortably within the schedule, although CA are reportedly looking at using the MCG for a day-night match which would appease the WA time zone and offer a far more financially lucrative option.

Sydney could also potentially host a day-night Test, and the NSW government has already informed CA of the Harbour City's availability although it remains a less likely possibility given the SCG is already hosting the fourth match in the series.

Bellerive Oval in Tasmania is also in the conversation, after it was set to host the historic Australia-Afghanistan Test match in November before its postponement.

But the option for a day-night Test in Melbourne is shaping as the most intriguing possibility - and it has a fan in English wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

"Having watched the [day-night] game at Adelaide, it's a great occasion," Buttler said.

"If there's one place in the world where day-night Test match cricket sort of seems to work, it looks like it's Australia, that's the best I'd say.

"It would just make for an incredibly unique Ashes series. It's already unique. It's already different.

"The traditionalists would love it to be probably five red-ball games but if that had to happen, or that was what was in the best interests of the games going ahead and running smoothly, then you'd have to be open to it."

Buttler's enthusiasm for pink-ball Tests is perhaps unlikely to be shared by England's chief decision-makers given Australia's sensational day-night record.

Australia have won all eight day-night Tests they've played, including two by an innings, as well as a 120-run victory in the 2017-18 Ashes.

England was hoping to begin a tour game in Brisbane on Tuesday but rain returned overnight to force the opening day's play to be abandoned without a ball being bowled. That comes after just 29 overs were possible in last week's England v England Lions tour game at Peter Burge Oval, leaving the tourists scrambling to get in match practice ahead of next Wednesday's first Test.

With AAP