From the latest county cricket matters magazine Graham Coster writes

"Trees make cricket grounds, but cricket grounds are becoming stadiums. They're becoming stadiums because these days they're really there for just the big showdowns which apart from test matches, never see a red ball."

I have to confess my heart sinks whenever I attend New Road these days and there are black sightscreens in use and seats taken up by a temporary black comms box.

I do think there should be more greenery within the actual stadium we use. Edgbaston (fitting as it is for putting on great test matches and the Blast Finals Day and I'm led to believe the 100 aswell) never has been the most aesthetically pleasing ground when empty (looks stunning when full mind) but at least back in the day with the old pavilion you had the trees within Cannon Hill Park to enhance the view from the City End and the flower baskets added a nice touch

Also;

"Is draping a glorified bedsheet over a bank of seats really the best we can do for sightscreens?"

I think this is something that needs addressing at Edgbaston amongst several venues the ground needs to improve the way it is turned out the way for instance Trent Bridge is able to. I don't think Trent Bridge is necessarily a nicer ground (odd shaped outfield for one and some of their new stands are downright weird) but they do seem to make more of an effort on the aesthetic front IMHO

Unfortunately we went down the road of calling it a stadium when its really the county ground.

So its functional and concrete rather than stylish and aesthetic.

The outside of the pitch outfield looks horrendous with the green artificial ring round it but that gets covered over during test matches.

Edgbaston is still a pretty ground though and has far more greenery around it than most grounds. Its still more attractive than the Oval even though we've ruined the pavilion End.

Until we get back to being Warwickshire rather than Edgbaston and have people in charge who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing we will struggle. But the ground and the history are wonderful despite the modern monstrosities!

Unfortunately these days at grounds like Edgbaston and the Oval, it’s not just black tarpaulins. Because county championship cricket is so regularly relegated to the extremities of the square so international matches, T20 and the hundred can have the best pitches, that we get white bed sheets too.

Very interesting observations. At Edgbaston surely it would be a relatively simple thing to put the sightscreens on a rail that runs the full width plus a bit of the square. All that is needed is for big ticket days the wicket is chosen well in advance and seats sold accordingly.

This takes us back to the "outgrounds" discussion. The stadium venues may be jumping when a big game is on but they are pretty soulless for County Championship games. Moving the pitch so that it's almost in the next parish is more or less standard and contributes to the difficulties with sightscreen coverage. Venue managements treat the CC with barely concealed contempt.
Taking the odd game to an outground would help as the match becomes the "big thing" for the hosting club and they would care about putting on the best show that they could. Where would you rather watch Championship cricket? Arundel or the Rose (Ageas) Bowl? Chesterfield or Headingley? It's a no brainer for the spectator. Just doesn't suit the accountants.