Chester-le-Street will be able to stage Test matches at its picturesque Riverside ground from the summer of 2003.

Durham's number one ground has been accorded Test status after successfully staging a number of one-day international matches.

The ground is already scheduled to host a one-day international between England and India in 2002.

And it may be invited to host Zimbabwe in May 2003, assuming the England and Wales Cricket Board can maintain its contractual links with the other Test venues.

It will easily be England's most northerly Test venue, and is likely to prove a popular base for fans from that part of the country to convene to watch cricket at the highest level.

Short on history

The Riverside is an exceptionally new facility, with Durham only playing first class cricket there for the last seven years.

It becomes the first new Test venue in England for 99 years. Edgbaston, one of the other six, was up to now regarded as the 'newest' Test ground - though Sheffield's Bramall Lane hosted a single Test in 1902.

Durham chairman Bill Midgeley countered scepticism over the county's chilly early season conditions.

Snow stopped play at the Riverside in 1999

The recent seasons have seen snow stopping play and fielders sporting woolly hats to counter the cold.

"I'd challenge any ground to guarantee the weather on any given day," said Midgeley.

"It might be a degree or two colder but it will be drier."

Midgeley said that the announcement was the culmination of two years' lobbying.

"It's taken two years hard work to break into what is a tight circle of Test match grounds," he said.

"They don't want to give up what they've got because Tests are very valuable both in terms of status and financially.

"The guarantee of a Test match will enable us to spend on ground development and hopefully on our players as well."

England and Wales Cricket Board chief Tim Lamb said: "Chester-le-Street will be a magnificent setting for a Test match.

"I am delighted for Durham. This is recognition of the very forward-looking and progressive way in which the county has developed since achieving first class status only 10 years ago."