Raman Rana (University at Buffalo) bowling at the 2013 National Championship in Florida

Back in 1971 they taught “the world to sing”, now Presenting Sponsor of American College Cricket, Coca Cola’s new ‘machine’  is getting a lot of reaction - as seen in this video from Coca Cola and all over Facebook. 

 The “Small World Machines” provided a live communications portal linking strangers in two nations divided by more than just borders, with the hope of provoking happiness and promoting cultural understanding around the world. Coke and Leo Burnett used first-of-its-kind 3D touchscreen technology to project a streaming video feed onto the vending machine screen while simultaneously filming through the unit to capture a live emotional exchange. People from both countries and various walks of life were encouraged to complete a friendly task together – wave, touch hands, draw a peace sign or dance – before sharing a Coca-Cola.

Jackie Jantos Tulloch, Coke’s global creative director and project lead, compares the live simulcast experience to looking into a webcam, face-to-face with another person. “Your actions are literally mirrored,” she explains. “By adding a touch screen, it allowed us to play interactive animations so people could trace things like a heart or smiley face together.”

http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/happiness-without-borders

American College Cricket action that may soon be seen at Van Cortland Park

National Champion UMBC Retrievers, with Lloyd Jodah

As the sun set, and the Stadium lights came on the University of South Florida Bulls and the University of Maryland Baltimore County Retrievers took the field for the 5th Finals of the American College Cricket Spring Break Championship presented by Coca Cola with supporting sponsor Dish Network, on TV Asia.

It was likely to be a low-scoring Finals on the CBRP Cricket Stadium pitch, with the ball keeping low, and not coming on to the bat but the high powered USF batting was expected to make the most of it. But Gurnish Singh bowled Ashgar Sheik for a duck and then got Sai Ramesh lbw for a duck – the 2nd Finals in a row that Ramesh had gone that way !

Regionals centurion Krunal Bhange meanwhile was holding his end, but Taha Menon got 2 wickets and UMBC Captain Rikin Parikh sent back the returning Harsha Boddepalli, lbw for 8.Boddepalli was the USF Captain in 2009, 2010 & 2011, had smashed the first American College Cricket century, 133, back in the 2010 Nationals, graduated, but returned as an alumni.

Bhange’s 32 in 36 balls and Karthik’s 21 in 28 balls dragged USF to 107 all out on the last ball of their 20 overs. Gurnish finished with 3 for 23, Taha Menon 2 for 20 and Parikh 2 for 14.

The 12 HD cameras of TV Asia ensured the action was spendidly captured, with slow motion replays, as the varied voices and perpectives of Jamie Lloyd, David Sentance, Darren Stortz, Tim Shirriffs and Lloyd Jodah provided commentary. 

Some tight fielding by USF made it tough going for UMBC, despite consistent scoring by their top order, and the game came down to a thrilling finish ! Normally hard hitting Eraj Abidi got 24 with 2 fours, Anand Patel 16, Raghav Bharadwaj made 28.Digant Samant continued his excellent form, making 30 and appeared to be taking UMBC to victory before he was run out, making it 102 for 4, and another run out by Sai Ramesh made it 103 for 5 in the 19th over!

But with Gurnish at the non-striker’s end Captain Rikin Parikh struck a 4 to seal the win, the National title, and the Shiv Chanderpaul Trophy for the University of Maryland Baltimore County !

The UMBC team now will spend a year reaping the rewards of National Champions, beginning with an appearance at the studios of TV Asia, articles in the Baltimore Sun and their University media, and much more to come. There are exciting plans ahead !

As for USF, commentator Jamie Lloyd said, “3rd time unlucky for USF. They’re got the players; they’ve got the skill. It’s a matter of when rather than if. But they must consider themselves very unlucky! Do we dare use the ‘C’ word?” 

With an incredible run from 2009, the USF Bulls will want to ensure their legacy is not that of the Buffalo Bills of 1990-94 behind Jim Kelly, but that of the Denver Broncos of the 90s behind John Elway.

This Finals was the 24th American College Cricket match shown on TV Asia, all over the USA & Canada, since October 2011.  All 50 matches were scored by CricHQ & available online for fans to follow live – the first time ever for a tournament in the USA & Canada !        SCORECARD: http://www.crichq.com/matches/35572 

The 2011 University of Pennsylvania CC with UPenn President Amy Gutmann, recognising them reaching the final four.

The University of Pennsylvania had one of the first official college sports teams in America, a cricket team which was begun in 1842. Harvard began an official one in 1868 but cricket was being played at Dartmouth and Ivy League universities in the 1700’s.

Though now more recognized for their academic excellence, the “Ivy League” played a major and pioneering role in early American sports.

In recent times, the University of Pennsylvania Cricket Club, not content to rest on its laurels and past glories, led the Ivies’ return to cricket, being a part of American College Cricket since early 2010, even reaching the final four in 2011 and earning the cricket team a meeting with UPenn President Amy Gutmann.

New clubs at Harvard, then Cornell and Princeton became American College Cricket members and played in the 2012 North East Regionals, with Harvard making the trip to Florida for the 2013 National Championship.

PHOTO : 1793 engraving by Dunham & Hill, cricket at Dartmouth

Now with students at Columbia collaborating with American College Cricket President Lloyd Jodah to begin a club,Jodah explained,

“The University of Pennsylvania cricket club, with leaders like Jay Dave, Gavish Sharma, Ali Hasan & Roshan Rai  has been great for us since early 2010 – the support given by the school is among the best. More recently Harvard led by Ibrahim Khan, and Princeton by Vijit Kapoor,Shaffin Fattah & Vaidhy Murti have been very proactive. This Fall, we’ll have the American College Cricket Ivy League Championship.”

The Ivy colleges will play “Home & Away” matches against any American College Cricket team during the regular season, which will make them eligible to play in a Regional, as well as the Ivy League Championship.                                                                 Photo:    1842 UPENN Cricket Team

More details will be revealed later, but how appropriate would it be for it to be held on the historic fields in Pennsylvania where cricket flourished 125 years ago – the Merion, Philadelphia and Germantown Cricket Clubs ! or at the nearby British Officers’ Cricket Club.