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CHESTER-le-Street will be asked to stage the first Test of England's series against New Zealand in July unless today's crisis meeting of the consortium seeking a bigger slice of the financial cake and the England and Wales Cricket Board reaches a surprise solution.

The dispute, another huge headache for a game which has only just 'settled' the World Cup pay conflict, must be resolved today if this summer's four Tests at Edgbaston, Lord's, Old Trafford and the Oval are to go ahead as scheduled in the second half of the summer. If not, Chester-le-Street, Cardiff, Canterbury and, possibly, Chelmsford will be asked to rescue the New Zealand series at short notice. Trent Bridge and Headingley miss staging Tests this year, in any case.

One leading official says the odds are now ``70-30'' on the Test Match Grounds Consortium standing firm at the Lord's meeting and refusing to make their facilities available this summer unless they receive a bigger share of Test revenue. The ECB, meanwhile, insist that the commercial and broadcasting rights for Test cricket belong entirely to them.

Mark Arthur, the Nottinghamshire chief executive, will lead the Test consortium into 'battle' today along with his county's chairman, Robert Griffiths, Roger Knight of the MCC and Lancashire's Jim Cumbes. They will be meeting Gerard Elias, the ECB's head of discipline, and Brian Ford, chairman of finance. It was hoped that last month's gathering of the First-Class Forum would bring an end to the argument, but both sides refused to budge.

``I doubt if it will be resolved,'' said Arthur. ``There's still a lot of debating to come and, with such an important issue, time isn't a factor. Until we hear something that is acceptable, we will not be going forward.''

That means the best hope the ECB have of emerging with the New Zealand series intact is for them to ask the Test grounds to go ahead with this year's matches and talk again in the winter. In effect, they may 'call the bluff' of the consortium in the hope that they will not dare withdraw from Tests.

Surprisingly, no contingency plans are in place if the worst happens today. The ECB clearly feel that the consortium do not feel strongly enough about the issue to ignite the logistical chaos that would ensue if they withdrew. Already, 70 per cent of tickets for the Lord's Test have been sold - a remarkable show of support for a low-key series - and tickets for the other three matches are going well.

Durham's Chester-le-Street headquarters is the best equipped for top cricket outside of the 'big six'. The Riverside ground was built with internationals in mind and Durham are confident that they will become an international venue next year, when the domestic programme is increased to seven Tests and 10 one-day internationals a season. Whether that will be brought forward is the big question.

``In terms of logistics, a number of grounds would be capable of whipping in extra seating at short notice and putting on Test matches,'' said Mike Candlish, the Durham chief executive. ``That includes us. But, really, it's a hypothetical question because I think this business will be resolved. We're just looking on as an interested party at the moment.''

The much-improved Sophia Gardens is next on the 'reserve' list, with Glamorgan sharing Durham's desire to stage international cricket. Considerable work has been done on the Cardiff ground and there is no doubt that the Welsh county are ambitious to prove their capabilities. ``We've come a long way,'' said Glamorgan secretary Mike Fatkin. ``We see the increase in the international programme as an opportunity for us, but we would have to be sensible. Work needs to be done on our support facilities, but we are ready for the World Cup and whatever comes next.''

The fact that all the leading county grounds are staging World Cup matches would help them in taking on a Test. Most have brought in extra temporary seating and improved their media facilities. All it would need would be to repeat the exercise over five days.

Durham will have a capacity of just under 8,000 for Pakistan's game against Scotland and Australia's meeting with Bangladesh. Yet they have plenty of space at their disposal and plan long-term to increase capacity to 20,000. ``Open golf championship venues cater for large crowds for four days a year and we want to do the same,'' said Candlish. ``We think it is right for the people of the North-East to see international cricket here at some stage. When? We'll have to wait and see.''