Will Hawkes: Edgbaston revampproves cricket comes second for clubs now

County Focus: Warwickshire know that even a successful county side will never pay for the redevelopments

Warwickshire today go in search of a victory to keep them in the title hunt, but attention at Edgbaston may not be entirely undivided. Given that the club has just spent £32m on redeveloping the ground, that's not surprising. With a Test match against India coming up next month – and the Twenty20 finals to follow – Warwickshire's future is being decided off the pitch, not on it. Long-term planning trumps short-term thinking in the second city, and in truth the county game's prospects have never looked more short-term.

The new facilities – or at least part of them – were opened on Friday for the Twenty20 game against Leicestershire, and the Duke of Edinburgh will be along next week to do the ribbon-cutting. A new, extremely blue, pavilion and stand – in an uber-modern style designed to irritate MCC members, and, probably, the Duke – will be ready for Tendulkar and Co, allowing around 8,000 spectators (taking the capacity to around 25,000, a 4,000 increase) to enjoy the action in greater comfort than ever before.

The club are clearly delighted, and, they say, supporters were approving when they got their first glimpse on Friday. "The new stadium puts us once again at the forefront of world cricket and provides wonderful new conference and event facilities for the city," says chief executive Colin Povey. "It's going to be absolutely brilliant."

Those extra seats – all of which, the club boast, come with added legroom, welcome news for anyone who has suffered through a day's Test cricket – will probably not be required today, with Sussex the visitors. Warwickshire will expect to beat the South Coast side for the second time in less than a month, but the club know that even a successful county side, like the Bears team which bestrode the one-day game in the mid-Nineties, will never pay for the redevelopments.

That's why they're particularly keen to highlight the new stand's banqueting and conference facilities. Increasingly the county clubs are businesses that happen to play a bit of cricket; the fact that Warwickshire's website is Edgbaston.com is no coincidence. They're selling a venue, not cricket. Edgbaston is somewhere to have your wedding, not watch the next Ian Bell.

This is a shame, because in the shape of the former Essex man Varun Chopra, Warwickshire may have a player who can approach Bell in terms of talent. He has been in fine form this season: with 898 Championship runs at an average of more than 56, he is the backbone of Warwickshire's batting line-up. From this week, the 24-year-old will have serious support in the form of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who has joined as the club's overseas player.

But if Chopra has had a rare old time, it is the bowling attack that has really kept the Bears in with a chance of a first title since 2004. The Irishman Boyd Rankin leads the way with 39 Championship wickets while Rikki Clarke, who is out of contract at the end of the season and in talks with Sussex, has 33. England aspirant Chris Woakes has perhaps the most impressive record of all, having taken 28 wickets in just five matches. Anyone expecting Warwickshire's title challenge to come to a shuddering halt may be disappointed.

What is just about over is the redevelopment of Edgbaston. The ground – which already boasted the new Eric Hollies Stand, still perhaps the most raucous spot in the English game – has had a serious facelift, but in truth it needed it. The game is changing fast and Edgbaston is far from the only cricket venue where the most important seats are not necessarily facing the action.