CRICKET chiefs have hit the North-East for six by giving Wales the chance to hold an Ashes Test match against Australia in 2009.

Durham County Cricket Club made an "exceptionally strong bid" to stage the five-day match at the Riverside ground in Chester-le-Street, which has already hosted one-day internationals.

But club officials and business chiefs last night said they were hugely disappointed to be pipped by Glamorgan.

The rival county received financial backing from the Welsh Assembly and were given the thumbs up yesterday by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

The match, which is expected to generate millions of pounds and boost the principality's international profile, will be at Glamorgan's Sophia Gardens ground in Cardiff - provided a £7.5m redevelopment goes ahead.

The club plans to raise the ground's capacity by 14,000 seats by building four stands and a pavilion, but the scheme faces opposition from some residents and has yet to get planning permission.

Durham also has plans to create a further 15,000 seats at the Riverside and install floodlighting, which will still go ahead in the hope of securing a future Ashes match.

Club officials are disappointed, but have the consolation of staging an npower Test match between England and the West Indies next year and other games, yet to be confirmed, in following years.

The club's Sign the Bat campaign in support of the bid attracted thousands of signatories among cricket lovers, regional sporting figures, including Brendan Foster, Sir Bobby Robson and Ian Botham, businesses - the 600 members of North-East Chamber of Commerce's Durham Committee signed collectively - and regional development agency One NorthEast.

Club chief executive David Harker said last night: "Obviously we are hugely disappointed at the outcome of the decision, especially after such a fantastic response from throughout the region.

"I would like to thank everyone who supported our bid, which was highly commended by the ECB."

He added: "We will look forward to welcoming the West Indies to the Riverside in 2007 and demonstrating to a global audience our ability to successfully host major Test matches at the Riverside."

Club chairman Clive Leach said: "We are confident that we will secure future internationals in 2008 and 2009 including a one-day international between England and Australia in 2009."

Last year's four-day Seve Trophy golf event at Wynyard Golf Club, near Sedgefield, County Durham, brought an estimated £1.8m to the region from 29,000 spectators and generated international media coverage worth £3m.

Business and development chiefs were hoping for a similar boom in 2009, with cricket's greatest competition creating a bonanza for restaurants, pubs, hotels and shops.

ECB spokesman Colin Gibson said: "The independent Major Match Group that recommended Cardiff to the board had a number of criteria and they believed Cardiff was better than the other bids.

"But people shouldn't think that the Durham bid fell down in any way. It didn't. It was an exceptionally strong bid.

"The ECB have a strong belief in international cricket in the North-East and that is reflected in the fact that they have given Durham a Test match next year."

Other grounds chosen for the 2009 series are The Brit Oval and Lord's, both in London, Edgbaston, in Birmingham, and Headingley in Leeds.