http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t... Everest cricket match will be sport at the highest level Patrick Kidd div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited { color:#06c; } A party of 50 cricket-loving explorers departed Lord's yesterday for an unusual tour. In 11 days' time, after flying, driving and finally trekking to a plateau 5,000 metres (17,000 ft) up in the Himalayas, more than three miles above sea level, they will play a match of Twenty20 cricket and set a world record: the highest altitude recorded for a field sport. The Nokia Maps Everest Test match is due to be played on a frozen lake near Everest base camp called Gorak Shep, which means “dead raven” in the language of the Sherpas who will accompany the cricketers. The teams, named Hillary and Tenzing, will play a match of 20 overs a side under the proper laws of cricket. They will use wooden stumps and bats, a pink leather ball (which stands out better against the snowy terrain) and a full-sized artificial pitch which has been broken into three parts and will be carried up the mountain. If that is not enough to make them wheeze and puff, the thinner air will have the players' hearts pumping 30 per cent faster than usual. Related Links Cricket purists decry a fancy mess at Lord's Attempt to spread World Twenty20 word The match is due to be played on the Queen's official birthday, and a message of support from Buckingham Palace was sent to the two teams. After the match, a proper British cricket tea will be taken and the Union Jack raised in the Queen's honour. Richard Kirtley, expedition leader and a marketing manager by profession, said: “We are all just ordinary people, taking that extra step to achieving something extraordinary.” The match is being played for charity, and more than £250,000 should be raised for the Himalayan Trust and the Lord's Taverners. Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, the England Test captain and vice-captain, have agreed to be the honorary captains. Cricket was introduced to Nepal in the 1920s and the country is the 31st ranked side in the world. In a match against Mozambique last year, Mahaboob Alam of Nepal took all ten wickets at a cost of 12 runs. Cricket on Mount Everest LONDON: Gareth Wesley, (L) captain of the ‘Tenzig’ team, Rebecca Stephens, (C) the first British woman to climb Mount Everest, and Richard Kirtley, (R) captain of the ‘Hilary’ team, pose for pictures at Lord’s cricket ground on Thursday ahead of their attempt to hold the world’s highest ever cricket game on Mount Everest. Two teams of cricket-mad Britons vowed to take the sport to new heights by playing on Mount Everest in the world’s highest-ever match. The two teams are to make a nine-day expedition in April to Gorak Shep, a plateau 5,165 metres above sea level near the Everest base camp, for the record-breaking Twenty20 charity game. afp