Riverside Ground

The Riverside Ground, officially called the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground, is a cricket venue in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. It is home to Durham County Cricket Club.

The club's acceptance into first-class cricket was made conditional on the building of a new Test match-standard cricket ground. Work began on the new ground at the Riverside, a spectacular location overlooked by Lumley Castle, in 1990, and development has continued in phases until the present day. Work on the outfield and playing surface began in 1993. In its first three seasons in the County Championship, the Club played in a variety of locations around the county, but the Riverside ground was pronounced ready for cricket in time for the 1995 season, even though many of the buildings were still temporary or unfinished. The ground hosted its first game, Durham vs Warwickshire, on 18 May 1995.

Other facilities at the ground continued being built over subsequent years, and the club's Don Robson Pavilion was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1996. A Bannatyne's Health Club is located on the boundary next to the Don Robson Pavilion. The full ground capacity, including permanent and temporary seating, is 15,000.

The development of the Riverside into a significant cricketing venue was underscored in 1999, when it hosted World Cup matches involving Pakistan, Scotland, Australia and Bangladesh, and then in 2000 when it staged the first One Day International match in the NatWest Triangular Series between England, Zimbabwe and the West Indies. In 2001 a One-day International between Australia and Pakistan was scheduled, but abandoned due to weather conditions.

2003 saw the Riverside Ground raised to Test match status, but has so far only been used for four England Test matches, against Zimbabwe in 2003, Bangladesh in 2005 and West Indies in 2007 and 2009. The fourth day of the West Indies Test, 18 June 2007, saw Paul Collingwood hitting a century on his home pitch for England against the West Indies, and so becoming the first local Durham player to hit a Test century at the Riverside.

In September 2008 plans were announced concerning further developments to the ground. These included installing permanent floodlights, and extending the County Durham Stand (at the South East of the ground) all the way round so that permanent seating surrounds the entire ground, rather than the current temporary seating which is used for international fixtures, thus raising the ground capacity to around 20,000. A new entrance building will also be constructed to house the box office and club shop, as well as many new offices for club officials, a new perimeter road will be made, and a new hotel will be built. These developments were seen as a necessity, as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have specified that they must take place in order for the ground to maintain its status as a Test Match venue.

It was announced on 30 July 2009 that the ground would host an Ashes Test match in 2013, the culmination of Durham's growth as a First Class County since 1992. This came after Durham missed out to Cardiff in its bid to host an Ashes test in 2009.

On 4 June 2010, before a Friends Provident t20 match against Lancashire Lightning, it was announced that the stadium would be renamed the 'Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground'.