Now comes the tricky bit. And Canberra might well offer the solution.

When Joe Root and his English team emerge from the plane in November they'll be whisked away into two weeks of quarantine - a far cry from their homeland where freedom has been handed back to society despite COVID-19 running rampant.

While county lines can be crossed at will in the United Kingdom, state borders in this country have been turned into buttressed fortresses.

Herein lies the problem.

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Cricket Australia's Ashes schedule begins at the Gabba on December 8, and includes five Tests either side of Christmas culminating in a possible decider at Perth's shiny new Optus Stadium.

As it stands, depending on where you are and where you're going in Australia, traveling to another state potentially requires a two-week stint in quarantine.

The majority of these restrictions will likely have been eased come December, but the West Australian border may yet prove to be an immovable obstacle. WA Premier Mark McGowan hinted as recently as September that his state's border could be closed for at least another six months.

That would have serious repercussions on the Perth Test, scheduled to begin on January 14, creating a very real possibility CA would need to relocate that match.

Assuming CA don't wish to use the same venue twice, Canberra and Hobart would be the two logical destinations. Unfortunately for Canberra cricket fans, the latter would likely be in the box seat in that situation.

Bellerive Oval was set to host an historic Test match between Australia and Afghanistan in late November, but that fixture is likely to be abandoned in response to the Taliban's oppression of women's rights in the troubled Asian country. An Ashes Test would be a decent consolation prize.

But relocating the Perth Test would also offer CA the perfect chance to reward Canberra for saving their summer last year, particularly the besieged Big Bash League.

Manuka Oval hosted 13 BBL matches last summer, easily more than any other venue across Australia and several at just a few days' notice.

Cricket ACT staff barely had a chance to slip away and celebrate Christmas as the dates kept raining down on the capital. But they delivered, as did Manuka Oval, and the Big Bash was saved.

Canberra's only Test match came in 2019 when Australia played Sri Lanka.

We have another coming up in February, as part of the Women's Ashes - one of the most highly anticipated fixtures to ever come to Canberra.

There's been no communication as yet with CA about being on standby to host an Ashes Test, but you can guarantee Cricket ACT will be ready to go if necessary.

As would Manuka Oval, which has stood dormant for almost six months now.

"As was our stance last year, we'll do whatever we can to help to deliver this exciting summer of cricket," Cricket ACT chief Olivia Thornton said.

"That's one thing that I suppose all of us have been doing throughout this COVID period, just rolling with the punches to some degree and being able to move and pivot really quickly. That may happen again this year, it may not."