Hampshire are planning to unveil a £45 million programme of improvement works at the Rose Bowl that will increase the ground's capacity to more than 25,000, making it the second-largest in the country.

The ground will host its first Test match in 2011, when England play Sri Lanka, but its owners are aiming to persuade the ECB to make the stadium a regular venue on the international circuit. High on the wish list is an Ashes Test in four years' time.

The ECB's Major Match Group met on Monday to hold preliminary discussions about the allocation of matches from 2012-16 and will decide at the end of the month which grounds will be given each of the “bundles” of international fixtures. Hampshire are hoping to be allocated one Test and half a dozen one-day or Twenty20 internationals.

Planning permission to extend the Rose Bowl, near Southampton, which opened in 2000, was sought in 2007 and granted last year. Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman, will announce full details of how the expansion will be funded within the next few weeks, but The Times understands that part of the financing will come through selling debenture seats in one of two new stands. There will also be a 175-room hotel and 75 hospitality boxes. On big-match days, the hotel will convert to corporate hospitality suites and a press centre.

Hampshire, who would like to play host to one of the Pakistan-Australia Test matches next summer, hope that a successful Twenty20 finals day at the ground last season will have shown the ECB that early teething problems with the infrastructure have been resolved.

One significant problem was the single-highway access to the ground, which should be resolved this winter when a second entrance road will be constructed.

About 15,000 of the 25,000 seats in the expanded stadium will be permanent, with a further 10,000 added if needed. It would take the capacity of the Rose Bowl from 20,000 to above the 23,500 of the Brit Oval and behind only Lord's, which has 30,000 seats. It should be completed by the end of the 2010 season.

Plans to redevelop the Pavilion End of the Oval will begin in October 2010, Surrey said yesterday. The proposals involve replacing the Lock, Laker and Peter May stands with a new stand and a 168-bedroom hotel.