England’s highest cricket match has been played on top of a mountain after players trekked 3,116ft to slog it out in honour of a Henley cricket player.
Two teams of 11 amateur players brought a 120kg artificial pitch, four bats and 30 balls to the summit of Helvellyn in the Lake District for the charity game.
They then took part in a ‘regulation’ 20 over match while attempting to avoid dozens of boulders, sheer cliff edges and bemused hikers.
Henley Cricket Club set up the match against a mixed team of local players to raise money for research into Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, which affects one of their members.
The high-altitude game eventually finished in a draw after the ‘Helvellyn XI’ – named after the peak they trekked up – reached Henley’s total of 146 on the final ball.
Ben McGregor, who participated in the game, said: “It’s not every day you get to play cricket on a mountain, and it was played to a good standard – a really competitive match.
“It was definitely a rocky outfield, so we had to watch where we were stepping when we were chasing after a ball.
“But it was really well attended. You were getting all the cheers when there was a wicket or a nice shot. So it felt like a big occasion.
“It went down to the last ball, which was fantastic for the roughly 30 spectators, and it kept us on the edge of our seats.
“A tie in cricket is actually very rare – it doesn’t happen very often. But it was actually a really fitting way to end it. Everyone was happy with that result.”
Ben, 22, who plays regularly for local side Ambleside Cricket Club, was initially contacted by Henley CC, about taking part in the unusual match in the Lake District.
He was one of the invited ‘Helvellyn XI’ who made the gruelling two-hour trek to a site that was 330ft (100m) from the mountain’s summit with bags full of kit on May 22.
This included two sets of stumps and bails, a scoreboard and boundary markers – along with four sets of bats, gloves and helmets, which were shared among players.
But the most cumbersome piece of equipment was the artificial pitch, which the players carried up in three sections.
Ben said: “The task wasn’t just for all us players to get up there – but also to get the pitch up there.
“There were essentially two or three people per section carrying it up on shoulders or between them.
“It was tough. It’s not an easy walk in itself. It’s quite a short and steep route.
“But with all of the kit and the pitch, it was quite hard work. The sun was out at that point, and we were off the back of two really warm days. So it was quite a workout.
“We managed it in just under two hours though, so it was quite good going. And everyone roped in.”
Ben, a wicketkeeper and batsman, said all the amateur cricketers played their part in the game – including a gentleman in his 70s who bowled four overs for Henley CC.
Stunned walkers who were marching around in the mountains had stopped to watch the bizarre game unfold before them – and even donated money.
Ben said Joe Browning, from Ambleside CC, top scored for the Helvellyn XI with 43, while he achieved a very respectable 41 and took a catch as their wicketkeeper.
Nick Johnson, from Henley Cricket Club, who helped organise the game said the team wanted to support his fellow player, John Neville, who has CMT.
The disease damages the peripheral nerves in the body, and though it’s not fatal, it leads to muscle weakness, arched or very flat feet, and numbness.
John, 33, who made it up the mountain to play the game, branded the condition “the most common rare disease you have never heard of”.
He told a local paper: “It’s a condition where the nerves in the extremities of the body die.
“In my feet and below my knees I don’t really have any movement at all and I use braces to walk.
“Holding a knife and fork or a pen or doing up shoelaces are things I struggle with. There is no cure so I rely on external supports.”
The teams set out to raise £10,000 but remarkably, their total has now surpassed £16,000.
Visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/highestcricketmatch to donate.
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