Oh. Well bear in mind nobody outside current or former Commonwealth/British empire nations ever watches (or knows a single thing about) cricket. Not exactly global the way, say, association football is. A cricketer is really top sportsman? I'd figure it would be a footballer.
So a proper comparison then would be that farce in New Zealand where rugby crossover Sonny Bill Williams got A-side treatment (in a major way, verging on corruption at the commission level) versus former world title contender Frans Botha?
By what measure, though? :think Not de jure, and probably in truth not even de facto anymore... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/5132934/Cricket-losing-status-as-national-sport.html