Highest-altitude cricket match
Who
"Mt. Kili Madness"
What
5,752 metre(s)
Where
Tanzania ()
When
Age Restriction: Applications for this record title will only be accepted if the applicant is 16 years of age or over.

"Mt. Kili Madness" was played at 5,752 m (18,871 ft) above sea level, in a dormant volcano crater on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, on 26 September 2014. The curtailed Twenty20 charity match saw the Gorillas, led by England vice-captain Heather Knight, defeat the Rhinos, skippered by former England cricketer Ashley Giles, by 19 runs, under official ICC (International Cricket Council) rules and conditions.

"Mt. Kili Madness" broke the existing record for the highest-altitude game of cricket by 588 m (1,929 ft). On 21 April 2009, "The Everest Test 2009" was played at 5,164 m (16,942 ft) above sea level at the Gorak Shep plateau, Nepal. That match inspired "Mt. Kili Madness".

Under ICC (International Cricket Council) rules, each side must bat for at least five overs to constitute a completed Twenty20 match. "Mt. Kili Madness" was scheduled to be a full 20-over-per-side match, but due to inclement weather in the crater ("clouds stopped play") the match was reduced to 10 overs per side.

The match took place after a seven-day trek up the mountain, with the 25 players (including three sub fielders), qualified umpires, match adjudicator, porters, medics, press, independent witnesses and spectators battling altitude sickness and temperatures as low as -20C on the ascent.

The match, which lasted for a total of 88 minutes (Gorillas batted for 42 minutes from 9 a.m. to 9.42 a.m.; Rhinos batted for 38 minutes from 9.50 a.m. to 10.28 a.m.), took place under official ICC rules and conditions, which included everything from cricket whites (with a few extra layers!) to an official scorer. The game was played on a plastic pitch rolled out over the ice, and a bright orange ball was used.

The thinness of oxygen at 5,752 m meant that the ball travelled faster through the air, and this is likely to have had a bearing on the number of sixes (10) hit during the match - three of them from man-of-the-match Phil Walker. In contrast, only five fours were struck on the uneven terrain in the 20 overs of play that were possible.

"Mt. Kili Madness" benefited three charities: Cancer Research UK, the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation and Tusk, an African-based wildlife conservation charity. As of 31 October 2014, the dedicated website set up for the event (http://www.mtkilimadness.com/) confirmed that £80,972 had been raised to date.