Online commentary not out as cricket fans tune in

NEWS CricInfo.com broadcast live commentary of the test via the official English cricket internet site, ecb.co.uk, in both English and Urdu, as Radio Pakistan took the CricInfo commentary feed directly. Ralph Dellor, director of cricket operations at CricInfo.com and a well-known cricket commentator, said that the major media companies were initially a little "dubious" about the credentials of internet commentary. With the site steadily growing and now sponsoring the County Championship, however, opinions have become more positive. "Former English captain Mike Gatting joined the commentary team yesterday and over the summer, including the triangular one-day tournament and the Ashes series, we are expecting more guests including Graham Gooch and Imran Khan," Dellor said. Andrew Hall, head of marketing at CricInfo, said: "To listen to the commentary, cricket lovers using PCs either at home or work must register to the site, so this is another way to attract more users." Just below 15,000 listeners tuned in to listen to the test day-by-day, with over 14,000 registering. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, CricInfo exceeded 250 million page impressions and 3.5 million users worldwide for the month of March.