Ntini takes bowling to new heights

MAKHAYA Ntini has played at most cricket grounds across the world during a glittering 15-year international career, but in September he will be taking his bowling to new heights.

Ntini will join 36 others who will climb Mount Kilimanjaro for a Twenty20 cricket match — all for charity.

At 5 785m, this will be the highest altitude at which a cricket game has been played. Kilimanjaro’s summit is 5 895m above sea level, but 110m below that there is a more or less flatbottomed crater in which a game of cricket — with umpires and all the necessary equipment — is possible.

Although many have laughed off the idea as crazy, Ntini is excited about taking his cricket to a new level. “I get to play cricket where no one has ever played before. It’s great,” said Ntini.

He was asked last week if he would play and jumped at the chance. This will be the first time he has been mountain climbing and he admits being nervous, but the charity fundraising aspect motivated him.

Money raised by the match will be donated to charities, including ones working on cancer research and fighting rhino poaching.

“I had mixed feelings,” said Ntini. “When I first got the e-mail [about the climb], I was sent some pictures of how we have to get there. I asked my son how are we even going to get our cricket kit up there. I don’t know what season we’ll be climbing in — will there be snow or nice weather? I

Generally people think I’m either insane or inspired — I prefer the latter opinion

read about people getting frostbite and that kind of thing.”

But his overriding emotion was excitement.

The highest altitude at which a professional cricket game has been played is 1 457m above sea level at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala, India.

The Mount Kilimanjaro match is the “insane” idea of David Harper, head of property services at Hotel Partners Africa. He came up with it while he and his wife were discussing cricket over a drink in a bar in Tanzania.

“She said the only way I was ever going to play cricket at the highest level was if I played on top of a mountain. And knowing that the world record was at Mt Everest base camp, I thought it would be fun to get an African world record at the top of Kili,” said Harper. So he started to recruit players. “One chap wondered how we would be able to play in the snow. Another asked if there was enough oxygen.

“Generally, people either think I’m either insane or inspired — I prefer the latter opinion,” he said.

The match will be played to official T20 cricket rules, the only difference being a break after every seven overs to allow the players to catch their breath in the thin air.

The players will have to lug the plastic pitch up the “field” so that it can be laid, piece by piece, on the rocky ground. It will take six days to get to the crater on which the game will be played.

“It’s mainly sand in the crater so the run-ups for fast bowlers won’t be easy. Don’t tell Ntini,” said Harper.