One of the closest Ashes Test matches in history and the prospect of an England series victory over the world champions Australia have helped cricket websites hit record levels of visitors.

This month’s Edgbaston Test, helped the England and Wales Cricket Board site, ecb.co.uk, record a fourfold hike in page impressions in August, to 13 million, compared to last year during the West Indies tour.

Inevitably, the ECB has now rushed a DVD of "The Greatest Test" into production, which is available from its site.

"Competitive matches that last for five days and see plenty of runs are a massive draw," Julian Goode, the head of new media at the ECB, said.

"The spikes come when one side is gaining the upper hand and a string of wickets fall quickly, especially on a weekday. It seems most people using the site are following the action while in work."

Times Online's over-by-over coverage has also proven massively popular, consistently ranking among the site's most-visited stories.

Other media have also benefited from excellent form of Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff and his teammates. Channel 4 drew a record weekend audience for its coverage of the Edgbaston Test.

The upsurge in internet cricket coverage mirrors wider media trends. Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, the advertising giant, today told Times Online the industry was becomingly "increasingly two-paced" as online growth rates outstripped those of traditional outlets such as newspapers.

The online phenomenon has also spread to other sports. The world governing body of athletics, attracted 1 million hits a day to its website during this month’s World Championships in Helsinki.

As the fourth Test in the five-match series got underway at Trent Bridge yesterday, Hitwise, the internet research company, said traffic to cricket sites had reached a record high, increasing by 47 per cent since the first week of August.

"With underdog England’s hopes of victory against the arrogant Aussies looking brighter than they have been in years, internet users have been seeking out the latest Ashes news in droves," it said.

Another large cricket site, Cricinfo.com said it reached around 1.5 million people during the third Test at Old Trafford, from which Australia side managed to salvage a draw as rain disrupted play. The figures were up 50 per cent on the Edgbaston match.

Hitwise also found that internet searches for "ashes tickets" had increased by more than 350 per cent in the last three weeks. The hike coincided with reports that the Inland Revenue plans to clamp down on ticket brokers who profit from re-selling tickets to events such as the Ashes.

The site also uncovered figures suggesting that some Australians might be considering making the long journey home before the end of the series next month. Searches for the Australian airline Qantas have "skyrocketed" since the beginning of the Ashes series, it said, up by more than 50 per cent in recent weeks.

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