After public outrage over its original snub, Australia's southern island state of Tasmania has been added to the itinerary for a tour Down Under by cricket's famous Ashes urn.
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), custodian of the fragile 10cm urn and the former world governing body for cricket, overturned its original decision to omit Tasmania from the tour.
Tasmania had been the only one of Cricket Australia's six member states not originally included on the tour, which starts on Oct. 21 in Sydney -- about a month before the first test match between Australia and England starts in Brisbane.
Tasmania will not host any of the five test matches, which are spread around Australia's five mainland state capitals.
MCC chief executive Keith Bradshaw, a former Tasmania state cricket representative who moved to London this year, was happy to announce the news.
"As a Tasmanian, I am even more delighted that Hobart is the city that has been added to the itinerary," he said in a statement published yesterday in the Australian media.
The Ashes urn and 30 other cricket artifacts will be displayed at the Tasmanian Museum from Jan. 18-21.
"This is a wonderful acknowledgment of the outstanding contribution Tasmanians have made to cricket in Australia," Tasmania Premier Paul Lennon said.
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