The Second Test match between England and Zimbabwe begins on Thursday, marking a historic event in English cricket. It will be the first time that the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street, Durham, will be used at a Test venue.

The 20,000-seater stadium opened for business, so to speak, in May 1995 after the new venue was built to accommodate County cricket with Durham having been inaugriated in the First-Class circuit in England a few years previously.

The ground successfully hosted ODI matches during the 1999 Cricket World Cup and has gone on to host five full internationals since.

New venues in world cricket are becoming the norm as countries seek to spread the game across the land in order to keep public interest high and the Riverside will become England's eighth Test venue.

Take time out from reading this to see if you can name all seven to date. The first six are easy, but I bet you will struggle with the last one! (answer in table below)

Many believe that Lord's was England's first Test venue, but in fact The Oval saw international cricket before the home of the MCC.

The Riverside will, however, be the first new Test venue in England in 101 years, a remarkable statistic that just goes to show what a rare event this Second Test will be.

The full list of Test venues in England, together with the year they first entertained international cricket, are as follows:

The Oval (London) - 1880
Lord's (London) - 1884
Old Trafford (Manchester) - 1884
Trent Bridge (Nottingham) - 1889
Headingly (Leeds) - 1899
Edgebastan (Birmingham) - 1902
Bramall Lane (Sheffield) - 1902

Yup, that elusive seventh Test match venue was none other than the home of the Blades, Sheffield United, hosting a solitary Test against Australia in 1902.

The two bowling ends at The Riverside are the Finchale End and the Lumley End and one side of the ground remains open so as not to block the spectator's view of Lumley Castle, a perfectly preserved 14th Century fortification that overlooks the playing area.