The sport of Cricket can trace its origins back to England in the 16th century. Over the course of the next 200 years, it rose in popularity to the point of becoming a national obsession in that country, and when the British Empire expanded around the globe, the game went international with it. Today, Cricket is played in more than 100 countries, one of the most popular sports in the world.
That popularity has inspired two teams to go to Nepal in an attempt to play the highest Cricket match in history. Over the past few weeks, the players have assembled in Kathmandu, flown to Lukla, and have been trekking up to Gorak Shep, a remote Himalayan village, where they intend to play an official match at 5165 meters or roughly 16,945 feet.
The teams are named Tenzing and Hillary, in honor of Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, the first two men to summit Everest, the mountain that looms over the field they will be playing on. Traditionally a team is made up of 11 players, but these have 15 in order to ensure that altitude sickness doesn’t prevent them from fielding a full roster. That doesn’t seem likely however, as even though a few of the players have had to remain behind, they are expected to rejoin their squads over the next few days.
The trek to Gorak Shep was completed on Sunday, and the athletes will now take a few days to acclimatize and prepare for their match, which will include officially sanctioned umpires. You can read all about the teams, their quest to play the highest match in the world, and their adventures in Nepal at their webiste TheEverestTest.com.