Cricket owes its popularity to great icons who have graced the game since its inception. Different eras have produced greats like Don Bradman, Sir Gary Sobers, Sunil Gavsakar and Sachin Tendulkar.  However Modern day cricket owes its popularity to 2 other very important aspects

Commentators & Quality of Commentary

Commentators like Tony Greig, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar & Geoffery Boycott have taken the game to new heights.  Sachin's innings in Sharjah in 1998 was speculator to say the least, but the way the innings was described by Gavaskar, Shastri & Tony Greig was equally spectacular.  Thanks to a combination of Sachin's genius and commentator's brilliance, those moments even after more than a decade are still fresh in our memory.  Even after watching innumerable repeat telecasts of that innings, we still crave to see those telecasts time and again.

Statistics displayed on Television & Internet

Statistics displayed on our television and Internet screens while the match is beamed live are as important.  The moment we get to see the speed gun displaying 150 KPM we get excited.  Similary when the sixer is hit beyond 100 metres or if the speed of the bat is 130 KPM it gives us a feeling of thrill..

While Televsion & Internet have given us more data than what we have craved for, still there are a couple of areas where there is scope of improvement for statisticians.

1) The highest speed recorded by a bowler should be mentioned against their bowling figure

2) Highest bat speed of bat, recorded by a batsman should be displayed against a batman's career record.

These data if recorded and maintained, would make cricket even more interesting and popular.

Regards

Satish