As Yorkshire announced ticket prices for next year's match, which takes place from August 7-11, the club's chief executive Stewart Regan spelled out the financial implications of the prestigious fixture.

"The game is worth a substantial seven-figure sum to the club," said Regan, who today hopes to secure planning permission for Yorkshire's proposed new £20m pavilion at the Kirkstall Lane end. "The fixture will be worth more than £1m outright, while general turnover could be in the region of £2m-£3m.

"In addition, the local economy could benefit to the tune of around £5m, so it's hugely important for the local area as well as to the club alone.

"The game is a jewel in the crown as far as Yorkshire are concerned and a fantastic boost to the county overall."

Yorkshire missed out on the drama of England's famous 2005 Ashes triumph when the five-Test series was played at Lord's, Edgbaston, Old Trafford, Trent Bridge and The Oval.

Thanks to the success achieved under then captain Michael Vaughan, cricket has become big business and, despite England's 5-0 defeat during the 2006-07 series, the demand to watch next year's Ashes will be huge.

Headingley Carnegie will host the fourth Test of the summer with Cardiff, Lord's, Edgbaston and The Oval completing the set.

Cricket fans wanting to see the action are going to have to pay top prices for the privilege with the cheapest seats for the third Test at Edgbaston set at £75 and Cardiff's cheapest at £50.

Headingley's prices have also increased but Regan says ticket prices were competitive compared with other grounds.

Yorkshire's most expensive Ashes tickets are £75, while their cheapest adult tickets are £45.

"We've tried to be as fair and reasonable as we can, bearing in mind that this is such a prestigious event," said Regan. "Our prices are in line with most other grounds; Glamorgan's range, for example, is £50-£80.

"Edgbaston's cheapest seat is £75, and we believe that our members' tickets are the cheapest in the country. By way of a comparison, tickets for this year's South Africa Test in the West Stand were £37 before members' discounts and West Stand tickets will be £50 for the Ashes Test."

Regan said next year's fixture was doubly important bearing in mind the club missed out on what would have been a lucrative Ashes game in 2005. "It was disappointing that Yorkshire didn't stage an Ashes Test in 2005, but that's just the way the international rota fell," he added. "When you consider that our Test in 2010 is against Bangladesh and that we haven't got a Test in 2011, next year's game will also help compensate for another couple of fallow years.

"We are the only ground north of Edgbaston holding an Ashes Test next summer, so we are anticipating a lot of people coming down from the north of England and also from Scotland."

Regan added: "I would urge people not to leave it until the last minute to buy their tickets because demand will obviously be very high. We've had a huge number of requests already from people in Australia, and people are gett ing in touch with the club all the time."

Yorkshire have introduced an alcohol-free stand for next year's fixture, which will be the lower half of the North East Stand that runs from the side of the electronic scoreboard to the groundsman's hut. Although some temporary seating will be installed, the capacity next year will be reduced from 17,000 to 16,750 once the Winter Shed is demolished.

Measures to reduce crowd misbehaviour in the West Stand during the one-day international against South Africa were successful, following problems encountered during the Test, and similar regulations will be put in place.

Yorkshire's application for planning permission will be heard by Leeds City Council at 2.15pm today. If successful, work on the new pavilion will start in the autumn