On the 17th December the 3GPP cricket team, featuring WG delegates, took on the might of the local side, the Orlando Gully Cricketers in a friendly 20 over game.

3GPP CC’s Alex Hamilton sent us his Captain’s log:

Like the other players coming from all over the world, to be in Orlando for the week’s Working Group meetings, I too boarded my flight from the UK on a wet and cold Sunday morning, arriving in time for a sunny Florida evening, reminiscent of an early summer evening back home. All that was missing was the Mayfly, early rising trout and young rabbits of my native Hampshire. Instead, I feared encounters with alligators, snakes and hordes of the Disney faithful, in search of Mickey.

The 3GPP team played valiantly, with a particular highlight being Jahidur’s half century, run close by the fine fielding of honorary 3GPP player ‘Vicky’-  borrowed from Orlando – who took three catches on the boundary - against his own team!

Alas, our players were not used to the ball used; a ‘hard tennis ball’ rather than the traditional leather ball, which made for a lot of bounce off the wicket. This meant that the majority of our players got caught out, skying the ball to all corners. A match for this spectacular batting, in the final over of the game, was a real rocket launch from the nearby space centre – Something that made the evening an even more magical experience.

The match result was a loss for 3GPP with Orlando winning by 62 runs; but it was a fantastic game and it allowed us to build relationships that help us build the standards.

Although we work in the field of high-performance wireless technology, the agreements and specifications that we make are built by the people. 3GPP is a great place to work, and what better way to build those relationships and bonds than over a game of cricket?

Thanks to our hosts the Orlando Gully Cricketers and to the following 3GPP players for making this happen:

• Alex Hamilton (Capt), Nokia, UK
• Kiran Polaki (WK), Samsung, UK
• Anuj Sethi, Interdigital, Canada
• Jahidur Rahman, Qualcomm, US
• Navaneeth Gopal, Telus, Canada
• Saad Ahmad, Interdigital, Canada
• Nandan Das, Viasat, US
• Prateek Mallick, Lenovo, Germany
• Taimoor Abbas, Interdigital, Canada
• Yesh Rangaramanujam, Rohde and Schwarz, US
• ‘Vicky’, Guest 3GPP member, US

Scores - https://3gppcc.play-cricket.com/website/results/6689989

Video - https://youtu.be/4j8Ca5iEj9A