Hampshire's �17 million Rose Bowl ground has been granted international status by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The decision has been taken after only one season of first-class cricket at the ground, which will stage England one-day matches from 2004 onwards.

"This is an historic day for Hampshire and a richly deserved reward for all those within the club who have worked so hard to make the Rose Bowl such a splendid setting for cricket," said ECB chief executive Tim Lamb.

He also held out the prospect of the ground being considered as a future Test venue.

Tests are traditionally played at Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, Headingley, Old Trafford, The Oval and Lord's.

But the ECB signalled its intention to look elsewhere last month when Durham's Riverside ground was granted Test status from 2003 and they could follow suit with the Rose Bowl.

Successful summer

"There is no reason why it should not be considered as a Test venue at some point in the future, once we have had time to evaluate its performance in one-day international cricket," Lamb added.

Work at the Rose Bowl site began four years ago after the club decided to move from Northlands Road in Southampton, its home since 1885.

It is still ongoing, but it proved a lucky ground for Hampshire during the summer as Robin Smith's side clinched promotion back to Division One of the County Championship.

"We remain committed to the provision of the very finest facilities available for the staging of international cricket," said Bransgrove.

"We now move forward to our forthcoming fund-raising activities with renewed vigour and confidence."