Who Wants to be a Millionaire contestant Peter Lee famously passed on the £1m question, which county plays at Chester-le-Street. The correct answer is Durham and, if at the time, Durham had been a high profile Test Match venue, perhaps Peter would have another £500,000 in the bank.

Peter is not the only one to lack knowledge of Durham's home ground. As the newest first class County and with the newest ground on the cricket circuit, the Riverside is perhaps not as well known as Lord's or the Oval, but the Club is about to be elevated into this group. After successfully hosting five International games and with England returning in the NatWest Series next year, it seemed natural for the Riverside to be elevated into the elite group of Test Match Grounds.

The announcement by the ECB late on Tuesday to award Durham County Cricket Club's Riverside Ground Test Match Status from 2003 follows an intensive campaign by Durham officials. The Club could stage its first five-day international in May 2003 as part of Zimbabwe's tour of England.

Chief Executive, David Harker said: "The enormous media attention that Test Match and One-Day International cricket generates across the United Kingdom and around the world will well and truly put Durham County Cricket Club and our stadium on the world sports map. Over 24 million people in the UK tuned into Test Cricket for 15 minutes or more during summer 2000 with an average audience of 1.3m for each Test. As a Club we are looking to take advantage of this massive commercial opportunity and maximise income through various partnerships, such as naming rights of our stadium."

Durham Chairman, Bill Midgley, expressed his delight at the ECB decision to award the Riverside Test Match Ground status. "This is a historic day for Durham CCC, a step forward for cricket and good news for the North East region. Everyone at Durham County Cricket Club has worked very hard to justify our selection as a potential Test Match Venue and we all look forward to staging our first Test Match, hopefully featuring at least one Durham player, supported by a full house of North East sports fans."

International Cricket at Durham County Cricket Club

20 May 1999 Pakistan v Scotland (World Cup Group Match) 27 May 1999 Australia v Bangladesh (World Cup Group Match) 15 July 2000 England v West Indies (One-Day International) 16 July 2000 West Indies v Zimbabwe (One-Day International) 16 June 2001 Australia v Pakistan (One-Day International) 4 July 2002 England v India (One-Day International) 2003 Test Match expected

© Durham CCC