Ponting urges day-night Test for struggling Hobart

HOBART: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting on Wednesday said a day-night match could help secure Hobart’s status as a Test host and rounded on “unfair” criticism of the Tasmanian capital.

Ponting, who was honoured by the unveiling of a statue at his old Bellerive Oval home ground Wednesday, said that criticism of Hobart as a Test venue was unjust.

“I think some of the criticism has been a little unfair. What I would like to see happen here is that Hobart and Tasmania get a Test match every year,” Ponting told reporters.

“It’s really hard to make assumptions on Tasmanian cricket or people watching Test cricket in Australia when there is no continuity where the games are.

“The Tasmanian public are being judged on Test matches against lower-ranked teams. Let’s have an Ashes Test here, let’s have Tests against South Africa and India here and then we can start making some judgments and comparisons about other venues around Australia.”