Australian captain Tim Paine has talked up Hobart's Bellerive Oval as a possible Test venue over the coming seasons.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Jokingly answering his home ground as his preferred Test venue between Perth and the Gabba if scheduling deemed the choice necessary, the 35-year-old is yet to play an international match in Hobart.
"I'd obviously love to play a Test at my home ground but having said that, it's not something I lose too much sleep over," Paine said.
"I love playing Test cricket for Australia no matter where I'm playing but I suppose it's something you'd love to tick off over your career, to play a home Test match.
"To be a captain down here would make it even more special and certainly, I haven't put a time period on my career so we will just see what happens in the next year or two and see how I'm going.
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
"Bellerive down here at the moment is a wonderful facility. I think it will be a great Test venue particularly to watch on television with the ball moving around and we've said a number of times that they are often the best Test matches to watch."
With his Australian side penciled in to play Test matches against both India and Afghanistan next summer in Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, Paine believes neither side will have an advantage if the games are to be played with no crowds, despite his well-storied club cricket experience.
"Once you get out there, even in front of big crowds, it very quickly narrows down to what happens on the pitch so whilst it can be a distraction after those first few balls while you're out there, I tend to feel most players forget the crowd once you're in the heat of the battle.
"Crowd or no crowd, it's going to come down to who's performing and executing their skills better and I said it in England, the crowd is irrelevant when it comes down to bat and ball in the middle."
Set to get underway with his "actual cricket training" in the next few weeks, Paine saw the positives of the current situation, with all of his international teammates to complete their first full pre-season in years.
"All our national contracted players who have gone back to their states, which is a great thing for both them and all our young domestic players around the country to learn off Steve Smith in New South Wales, Marnus in Queensland and Pat Cummins and all these guys, so for state cricketers it's really exciting to have these international-quality players around our state groups.
"For our international players, I think it's a great thing. One, you get that mental freshen up that your David Warners, Pats and Steves never get so the mental freshen up is a real positive but moreso, these guys are getting into a full pre-season and getting their bodies right."
Subscriptions are available here.
Sign up to our Sport email here.