Durham chairman Bill Midgley has remained confident the county's big day would not be spoiled despite the potential threat to Zimbabwe's tour going ahead. Chief Sports Writer Steven Baker reports.

IF Bill Midgley was worried that Durham's Test debut would be ruined by Zimbabwe's refusal to turn up, he never once betrayed those fears in public.

As the English Cricket Board sweated over whether there would be a huge hole in their Test calendar, Midgley remained calm.

Only now, as the Durham chairman excitedly waits for Chester-le-Street's first Test with the doubts about Zimbabwe removed, has he let the mask slip.

Midgley remains adamant that he always expected Heath Streak to be leading his country into today's Riverside encounter.

"If you sat down and looked at it objectively, there was no sense at all in Zimbabwe not coming; there was no real political gain in that," he said.

"The political high ground was claimed by coming rather than becoming involved in a tit-for-tat row."

But there was clearly a significant degree of concern among the Durham burghers that their dreams of a big day might be scuppered by events outside their jurisdiction.

England's failure to play Zimbabwe in Harare not only undermined their World Cup hopes; it could have forced the cancellation of this summer's two-Test series.

So, did Durham panic? Well no, but Midgley concedes there was "alarm" in the Riverside corridors as Zimbabwe prevaricated and England waited for President Robert Mugabe to intervene.

"The Zimbabwe Cricket Union said all along that they were coming, which is why we always said that as well," he said.

"But they're not masters of their own destiny and we knew there was the political question mark in the background.

"One man (Mugabe) decides whether teams and individuals can play in sports overseas.

"And given that England didn't cover themselves in glory at the World Cup, there might have been some payback.

"There was that uncertainty, and the country was tearing itself to bits as well which meant there wouldn't be players available. There was a contingency plan in place as far back as May last year; the alarm bells were ringing that long ago.

"The concern was that Zimbabwe was going through a very difficult general election, and there were concerns about the stability of the country and whether it would be able to field international sides.

"We looked then at the possibility of a replacement. It was a concern for 12 months and it was heightened by England's handling of the World Cup game in Harare.

"If we had tried to put something together with a month to go, it's possible we could have been left with a problem.

"New Zealand would only play one Test in England. They were playing overseas and the Durham date fitted in with their travelling back to New Zealand.

"But it's not come to that, and we're delighted Zimbabwe are here and we can't wait for the Test.

"We've had a number of milestones over the last few years. The biggest one was our first first-class game, then coming to the Riverside three years later was something special.

"But this is a huge one because it takes us to the top level of cricket alongside the established Test match grounds."

Durham is guaranteed to do itself justice off the field, even if the notoriously fickle North-East weather frowns on the occasion.

The ECB has been mightily impressed by the Riverside's efforts as it has staged a handful of successful one-day internationals since 1999.

Moreover, Lord's has become increasingly exasperated at the inability of Headingley to attract bumper crowds to Test matches and limited-over games alike.

This, then, is a glorious opportunity for Durham to showcase its credentials and to stake a strong claim to muscle its way on to the regular Test circuit.

Midgley said: "All we have to do now is make sure the Test is a sell-out, certainly for the first three days.

"I would be very disappointed if we didn't sell out the first three days. We've shown with the one-day internationals that the North-East public turns out, and with this being our first Test it's a unique event.

"There was quite a rush on tickets before Christmas and they started to go quite briskly again after Zimbabwe confirmed they would be coming.

"We have to cover the cost of temporary seating, policing and stewarding from the money we get from ticket sales.

"But the icing on the cake is that the corporate hospitality has gone extremely well, which in income terms is money to Durham."