The North-East and North Yorkshire have a great track record for staging top sporting events. Neil Hunter looks at what it would mean to the region to make history with an Ashes Test.

From football World Cup qualifiers to some of the biggest meetings in the horse-racing calendar, the region has proved it can put on a show.

St James' Park, in Newcastle, the Stadium of Light, in Sunderland, and the Riverside Stadium, in Middlesbrough, have all hosted England games while Wembley is being rebuilt.

And Ascot moved - for the first time in 294 years - to the Knavesmire, at York, last summer, while the Royal racecourse was given a £200m facelift.

Relocating the "homeless" big events to the North-East and North Yorkshire have given the region a huge boost - in terms of kudos as well as finances.

But it is not just the temporary shows which capture the imagination of the public.

Regular events such as the Great North Run on Tyneside, international athletics at Gateshead, and motorsport at Croft, near Darlington, have proved just as popular.

And the Seve Trophy was hailed a huge success after its inaugural staging at the Wynyard Golf Club, near Stockton, last summer, was given hours of worldwide air-time.

Tournament organiser and development agency One NorthEast is backing Durham County Cricket Club's bid to bring an Ashes Test match to the region.

Last summer's series between old rivals England and Australia gripped the nation and propelled players such as Yorkshireman and skipper Michael Vaughan, and Northumberland-born pace bowler Stephen Harmison, to stardom.

The prospect of Harmison and Durham team-mates Paul Collingwood and Liam Plunkett battling for the famous urn on home soil in three years' time would prove a huge attraction.

But the Riverside will have to beat off the challenge of other established Test venues such as Old Trafford, in Manchester, and Headingley, in Leeds, to stage one of the games.

Bid organisers, however, are confident that the Chester-le-Street ground - and the region's facilities, as well as its track record - are good enough to win the Ashes bid.

Stacy Hall, director of communications with One NorthEast, said: "The Seve Trophy went into 130 million homes worldwide and was very well attended by people from across the region and further afield.

"The kind of profile an event like this gives the region in terms of international television coverage would be very expensive to buy if you were to purchase it in advertising space.

"It generated something like £2m directly into the local economy, but also millions of pounds worth of media coverage which has resulted in a greater interest from people wanting to visit the region.

"The Ashes and other international matches would bring in visitors who would be staying at hotels and guest houses, and spending their money in local restaurants and visitor attractions.

"The region would be promoted on a world-wide stage as it is and has been with the Seve Trophy, the Great North Run, international athletics and England football matches.

"The Tall Ships last year attracted one-and-a-half million people to the region, and we are building up a credibility in our ability to host major events.

"But we also really need the people of the region to get behind the Ashes bid and convince the England and Wales Cricket Board how passionate we are and how much we want it."

The bid can be supported by logging on to www. signthebat.co.uk