On the 19th September thirty people including Clare Connor, former England cricket captain, will climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to play the world’s highest ever game of competitive cricket.
Led by serial charity challenge enthusiast and cricket fan David Harper, two teams will this month endure a ten-day trek to reach the summit of Africa’s tallest mountain,Mount Kilimanjaro, to play the world’s highest ever game of competitive cricket.
A flurry of famous faces have gamely signed up to ‘Mount Kili Madness’, including Makhaya Ntini and Ashley “King of Spain” Giles. The professionals are joined by a group of keen cricketing enthusiasts including father-son team Jonathan and Hugo Worsley (below).
Born from a well-oiled conversation between Harper and his wife in the pub, the seemingly light-hearted challenge is not without serious risk. 30% of attempts to scale Kilimanjaro end in failure. If successful players will then battle low levels of oxygen making it immeasurably difficult to start running around without contracting debilitating altitude sickness.
The group’s efforts are to raise money for a trio of charities. Cancer Research UK, Tusk Trust who, along with Royal patron Prince William, are trying to combat animal poaching across the continent, and the Rwanda Stadium Cricket Foundation, which is also being supported by a second charity match in Buckinghamshire this weekend.
Many of those taking part have a personal connection to at least one of the charities. Clare Connor recently spoke of the devastation that ripped through her family at the hands of cancer. Speaking about her own reasons for taking part, she said: ‘I love Africa, I love cricket, I love a challenge and I am so pleased to be able to combine everything that this trip has to offer in order to raise valuable funds for Cancer Research UK.’
Mount Kili Madness has currently raised £44,520 of their £200,000 target and the climb begins on September 27.
