Durham to host Ashes Test

Durham will host an Ashes Test at the Riverside for the first time in 2013, the ECB have confirmed.

The Brit Oval will also host a match the next time Australia contest the Ashes on English soil in four year's time, with the venues for the other three matches in the series still open for bidding.

The ECB also announced that Hampshire's Rose Bowl will host a Test between England and India in 2014, along with Old Trafford and the Brit Oval.

The decisions were announced after the ECB accepted the recommendations of the Major Match Group, which has implemented a plan to award major Tests to grounds like the Riverside that do not have long-term staging agreements.

Durham, who have also been awarded a Test against Sri Lanka in 2016, first hosted Test match cricket in 2003, and England have a perfect record in their four contests at the Chester-le-Street venue to date.

Also still to be announced are the venues for one Test against India in 2011 and one in 2014, as well as one-day internationals against Australia in 2012, 2013 and 2016.

The ECB must also make an announcement regarding the Test matches to be played between Pakistan and Australia in England next year.