First Ashes Test next year to be staged in Cardiff

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The redeveloped Swalec Stadium will host the first game of a five-Test series on July 8.

Four of Test cricket's traditional homes will host the four subsequent matches between England and Australia, with the games at Lord's, Edgbaston, Headingley and the Oval.

The ground in Cardiff has undergone a £9.5 million redevelopment, with capacity boosted from 5,500 to 15,643.

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Wales bound: England will play the first game of next year's Ashes series in Cardiff, hoping for a repeat of their famous win against the Australians in 2005

The ground was granted Test match status in April last year, and was last year named as a venue for the Ashes series.

The decision caused controversy, with officials at Old Trafford angry that a match would not be staged there.

The ECB also announced that Hampshire's Rose Bowl will host a Test against Sri Lanka in 2011.

The Southampton venue, which opened in 2001, will become England's 10th Test ground when it hosts one game of a two-Test series - with Cardiff hosting the other.

The Rose Bowl has already hosted nine one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals.

Meanwhile, Cardiff received a further boost with the news that Australia will return to Wales for a one-day international in 2010, with India playing an ODI there the following year.