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In little more than eight years Durham CCC has transformed a former wasteland site into a Test arena, a remarkable achievement in anyone's book.
Such has been the pace of development people arriving at the ground for the 2nd npower Test against Bangladesh could be forgiving for thinking it was ever thus.
Yet it was as recently as May 18 1995 that Durham hosted its inaugural first-class match having secured planning approval the previous April.
In keeping with the admirable intention of giving work to local firms the development plans were then prepared by Newcastle architects Ainsworth Spark Associates and involved 6.3 hectares (14.9 acres) of land.
Work on the outfield began almost immediately thanks to the combined financial contributions from Chester le Street District Council, Durham County Council and Durham CCC, with further grants also received from the European Regional Development Fund, the Sports Council and the Forestry Commission
Two years later Her Majesty The Queen was in town to officially open The Don Robson Pavilion and mark the beginning of play at the new ground, and in 1999 the Riverside hosted two one-day internationals on its first step towards Test status.
A further two ODIs were played there in July 2000 and although one of those games attracted a crowd of 15,500 the capacity was reduced to 12,000 for the inaugural Test against Zimbabwe in 2003.
Additional plans for developemnt included the construction of a new media centre, cricket academy and hotel, adding to the already impressive facilities which currently include grass and Astroturf nets as well as a gym.
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