THE County Ground will host an extra Championship fixture in 2007, after Somerset announced that they will only be playing a one-day fixture at Bath next season.

Cost was the main reason the club decided to withdraw the four-day match from the Bath festival. In 2006, the five day festival cost more than £80,000 to stage.

It is expected that the county will play a Cheltenham and Gloucester fixture at Bath in late May or early June, the cost of which will be considerably less.

Somerset's chief executive Richard Gould said: "Somerset has a great tradition of playing cricket at Bath and therefore we are pleased that county cricket will continue to be an annual feature at the Rec."

While the four-day match may well be coming back to Taunton in 2007, Gould did not rule out the possibility the club might look elsewhere for a location to host matches in future.

"We are keen to pursue avenues that will allow championship cricket to be played away from Taunton, providing that it is financially viable," he said.