I took a behind the scenes tour at Sussex Cricket Club and found out connections with James Bond villains and players who have been in Oscar-nominated films

As part of Heritage Open Days, I attended the Behind the Scenes at Sussex County Cricket Club and Museum event. Sussex County Cricket Club was the first First-Class County formed in 1839.

Sussex have played at the ground in Eaton Road since 1871, after acquiring the land from the Trustees of the Stanford Estate.

And having attended games at the ground as a fan and in a professional capacity, it was fantastic to see parts of the ground I haven’t been to before and learn about the rich history of the club and learn some brilliant facts about former players.

And this is where the film element comes in. Tim Burgess, a Sussex Cricket Museum volunteer, posed questions throughout the tour - including which two former Sussex players have appeared in Oscar-nominated films? And which two James Bond villains have connections with the club?

I am not going to reveal them here, you will have to watch the video above to find out. But I also found out which former Prime Minister used to play for Sussex, along with three Indian Princes and Bishop and why Paul McCartney mentioned Ted Dexter in a Beatles’ concert.

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These facts just added to tour and showed the incredible knowledge of our main tour guide Phil Barnes, who is a Sussex Cricket Museum Trustee.

The tour started with a trip to the top of the South Stand, which is on top of the Media Centre and then were take around the side to see the back of there scoreboard where we saw memorials to former players who have died. Then we go to go on the outfield – and that’s where everyone on the tour realised how poorly kept our own lawns are!

That’s where we given a full history of how Sussex obtained the ground and how it developed – again you can see that in the video above.

We then got to venture up the steps to the players’ pavilion before visiting the cricket museum. It is to my shame that I have been to the ground on so many occasions but never visited the award-winning museum.

It is full of incredible photos and great artefacts from the history of the club, covering both men and women. Phil talked us through one amazing picture of when Sussex played against Australia in 1909 plus an interesting tale of how pilot Amy Johnson delayed a tea break when Sussex were playing Australia.

So many interesting tales and facts about a historic club and it’s all thanks to Heritage Open Days, which is an annual celebration of England's history and culture that allows visitors free access to heritage sites and community events that are either not usually open to the public, would normally charge an entrance fee, or that are putting on something special for the festival.

And the Sussex County Cricket Museum has introduced a wide range of podcasts with guests such as John Barclay, Michael Simkins, Adrian Harms and Les Lenham. You can follow the podcast here.