FROM the commentary box at the top of the stand, the Riverside ground looked an absolute picture.

The cricketers in white on the greensward were bathed in warm sunshine; the slate-roofed modern pavilion stood to the left with the slender spire of Chester-le-Street church rising above the treeline behind it. To the right was Lumley Castle's 14th Century sandy-coloured collection of castellations and turrets and in front of the commentators' eyes was a large, incomplete steel and smoked glass structure which is a 21st Century moment to the club's ambitions.

"The ground is everything I ever hoped it would be," said Jonathan "Aggers" Agnew, the voice of Test Match Special and, it could be argued, of English cricket. "It is absolutely brilliant.

"They could just have built a concrete bowl, but instead they have gone for an aesthetic ground, and I am thrilled to be here.

"It all runs perfectly. I have never had such a friendly welcome at a Test ground, and not only was I allowed in in my car but someone even worked me to my space."

Over the years, Aggers has taken some criticism from Durham supporters because he opposed the county's application to become the 18th first class county.

"When Durham were admitted in 1992, I was against it, not because I have anything against Durham but because I thought English county cricket did not want another county, and I still think I'm right on that," he said.

"But it is very important to have a cricket centre in this part of the country. It is good for North-East cricket and for Scottish cricket and for people coming over the Pennines."

Aggers also said that Durham has a chance of staging a major Test, say in the 2005 Ashes series against Australia, rather than continually being given the games with the minor nations like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

"English Test grounds all hold more than the Riverside, so Durham has to increase its capacity - but that's all it has to do," he said. "It is purely a question of whether it can make enough money for the English Cricket Board.

"There will be a fight from the other grounds and it may be that Durham has to be content with staging minor Tests for a while - it is the new kid on the block. But there is no God-given right to hold Test matches, and the way Durham has progressed in the last 15 years there will be no shortage of competition among the grounds for the big games."

With that he returned to a particularly pleasant fruit cake that had been delivered to the commentary by Durham County Councillor Brian Walker.