The Eric Hollies stand at Edgbaston cricket ground has earned itself a great deal of fame (or perhaps notoriety) in recent times. Home of the self styled ‘Barmy Army’ when England are playing and marketed as the place to party when Birmingham Bears or Birmingham Phoenix are at home it is invariably packed to the rafters and very noisy.

Today though the scene could not be more different. It’s the first day of the county cricket season and Warwickshire are taking on newly promoted Sussex. Having purchased my match ticket on line I was thwarted on entry by the new ticket readers being used failing to read my ticket. Consequently it’s back to the ticket office to receive an old school printed ticket. Now I am sitting in the middle of the Hollies as the start approaches, across the entire stand there are perhaps ten people. One man sits stoically at the very back. He remains there for the entire day. I scan across the ground and estimate there are around three hundred in attendance in total. For comparison the official capacity of the ground is recorded at twenty five thousand.

As the umpires take the field I reflect on my Warwickshire supporting career. I was born and spent my childhood in the north of the county so it was natural they would be my team. Although in a general day of strangeness it should come as no surprise that the Edgbaston home ground is in fact geographically part of the West Midlands rather than Warwickshire. I first saw them play in the flesh at the out grounds of Coventry Courtaulds (now a housing estate) and then in 1983 at the Griff and Coton ground in Nuneaton against Essex. Memorably this featured such legendary players as Alvin Kallicharran, Dennis Amiss, Bob Willis and Graham Gooch.

After that I started visiting Edgbaston fairly regularly from the late eighties to the point of holding a membership for two seasons in the mid-nineties. Although the commitment of starting a family put paid to that I have continued to be a fairly regular visitor still ever since. I’ve also see them play in one day finals at Lords, finals for the twenty twenty at Trent Bridge, visited many of the other county grounds around the country as well as some of the club ones such as Stratford, Rugby, Aigburth, Blackpool, Colwyn Bay and Edinburgh. There was even an ultimately unsuccessful trip to Amsterdam to see them play the Netherlands but rain put paid to seeing any action.

My attention is drawn back to the present as the clock ticks round to 11am and play begins with Sussex having elected to bat. For those bought up on ‘The Hundred’, ‘Bazball’ and the ‘IPL’ I imagine the next two hours until lunch would be something of a cultural shock. There is a moment of minor excitement when Warwickshire take two wickets in two balls but other than that Sussex proceed at what could politely be termed a steady pace. It should be remembered at this point that the game lasts four days so there are in theory twenty fours or so of cricket available to produce a result.

As the players leave the field for lunch to a gentle smattering of polite applause we are invited by the announcer to perambulate on the pitch. A quick Google of the word reveals that we are allowed to walk on it, although not the square itself obviously. I have decided to move position for the afternoons play to the Wyatt Stand where there is both more sun and a bar.

The stroll to the Wyatt reveals a club shop over flowing with souvenirs and clothing that would have been unimaginable in range back in the eighties. Warwickshire, Birmingham Bears, Birmingham Phoenix along with somewhat incongruously India are all catered for. It seems to be doing a decent trade though and considering the sparse attendance for the actual cricket this is certainly a good thing.

On arrival in the Wyatt the general conversation centres around two topics. Firstly the prices at the bar where a pint of Guinness is retailing at ‘only’ five pounds. Remarkably this is indeed cheap for Edgbaston and is being attributed to an opening day offer. The other is that, although from my perspective the crowd doesn’t seem much larger than earlier in the day, the attendance is a good one. Armed with my bargain pint of Guinness I settle into my seat and begin to soak up the unexpected April sun. Usually these occasions are accompanied by a front page picture in ‘The Times’ of an outfield with snow on it. All is well with the world as the afternoon’s play begins.

Tactician’s and cricket purists would probably reflect on this part of the day as the sport at its finest. The Sussex batsman play very carefully to try and build the first innings score after the loss of three wickets in the morning session. Unfortunately I find this in combination with a relatively early start, Guinness and sun to be soporific and begin a battle against falling asleep. In fairness to the players as the session progresses the scoring rate and action increases. It is easy to see why people worry about the future of country cricket though. Additionally the low attendance is largely composed of older people, understandable as this is a regular working day, but this can’t be a demographic to base a sustainable way forward on.

The tea interval arrives. A mere twenty minutes is given so sadly there is no further opportunity to perambulate on the pitch. The cricket resumes in the same fashion as the earlier parts of the day, while all around the eccentricity continues.

As Edgbaston is set to host so many matches this summer the need to protect the areas of the pitch where the wicket may be is paramount. This has led to the current pitch being largely skewed towards the Wyatt stand. There is a very short boundary there which the batsman target with relish. The other side of the pitch sees almost nothing.

Two girls appear. Relatively young they are the polar opposite of almost everyone else in the ground. They have lost their friends but via the magic of mobile phones they are able to locate them on the other side of the ground. They rush off cutting through seats, over barriers and on to the very edge of the boundary to get back to them. Nobody seems to bat an eyelid.

Just before the close of play I spot a very few Sussex supporters wearing the clubs twenty twenty shirts. Quite a journey unless you are residing closer to Birmingham. One couple appear to be making a weekend of it and will be returning for start of play in the morning. Another disappears down the stand steps by himself heading for home singing ‘Sussex By The Sea’ the club’s unofficial anthem.

Following my first day visit the weather stayed fine for the remaining three days. That meant there were just under four hundred overs bowled in the search for a result in the match. Ultimately though all the combined efforts resulted in, I’m sure you’ve guessed, a draw! In fact three of the five games in the division ended in a draw. It’s certainly always an interesting day out at the county cricket, how much of that is down to the actual cricket is a whole different story.