Thousands of cricket fans are using the world wide web to follow the fortunes of their Aussie heroes at the 1999 World Cup in England and inundating their favourite players with messages of support.

Good luck messages are pouring in from faraway locations such as Tanzania, Chile and Brazil as well as from every corner of Australia.

www.acb.com.au has never enjoyed such popularity, according to Narelle Finch, ACB Manager, International Cricket Marketing.

"The live scorecard alone of the Australia v South Africa Semi-final had over seven million page impressions, which means that we're reaching a massive global audience," Ms Finch said.

"Plus, we received over 1000 "GoAussieGo" good luck messages in the 24 hours since the match."

The ACB's official website, a partnership with ninemsn and CricInfo, allows cricket fans to address their good luck messages to their favourite player, or to the whole Australian team.

The messages, filled with expressions such as "Legends" and "Wow", show that the fans were burning the midnight oil, watching the high drama of the first ever tied match of the Cup.

Emotions were flowing, with comments such as:

• "I've nearly chewed my fingernails to the bone."
• "You've made it worth all the late nights."
• "Even if you don't win, we're really proud of you."
• "Now there is an even more famous underarm ball: good on Fleming."

Ms Finch said the ACB is confident that the Final on Sunday at Lord's will bring record numbers of fans online, willing the Aussies to victory.

The site offers comprehensive live coverage of the World Cup, with the most popular features so far being:

• Live scorecards and commentary of every Cup match;
• Ian Healy's World Cup audio reports;
• The GoAussieGo good luck messages.

© 1999 Australian Cricket Board