WHEN Mark Eames was named as Hong Kong's Player of the Year last season, half the world knew about it - thanks to CricInfo, a service on the Internet.
The prolific left-handed KCC Infidels batsman would have been surprised to know that his achievements in the cricketing backwaters of Hong Kong were probably read by a Swede, a Thai and an Argentinian, amongst thousands of others from 70 countries around the world.
While Eames must be thankful to the computerised information technology service, he will have to say a special 'thank you' to Rohan Chandran, the man behind the keyboard who - in computerese - inputted the deeds of Eames into CricInfo.
Rohan, 20, is one of 15 cricket fanatics, spread around the world, who are responsible for bringing the game to your terminal. The former Island School student is part of the management group behind CricInfo who maintain and regularly update the database.
'It is a completely non-commercial service. There are about 15 of us in places like the United States, Australia, England and South Africa who voluntarily spend 10 to 15 hours of work a week in the day-to-day running of this database,' said Rohan, a second-year graduate student at Stanford University.
Listening to him, it is evident that his devotion to the game knows no bounds. 'The only thing all of us have in common is our love for the game and the willingness to help give other enthusiasts an opportunity to follow it closely.' In this modern day of finger-tip information, CricInfo still has won a place among cricket fans, especially those in 'remote' places like the United States and Canada where satellite television hardly dwells on cricket.
'The whole idea was started by Simon King, an Englishman. During the 1993 England v India series he started to feed in 'live' commentary during a Test,' recalls Rohan, who is back in Hong Kong on holiday.