Cricket has graced the slopes of Everest more often than one might think, but never in an official capacity, and as it stands the Guinness Book of Records has no entry for the highest ever game of sport.

The most high profile attempt was made in November 2007 by the Professional Cricketers Association who attempted to set the same record we are going after, but the match was not recognised as they only played an eight over game of six-a-side.

This is not to take away from what they did at all. Players such as Nick Compton, Graham Napier and Mark Wagh, along with the Chief Executive of the PCA Richard Bevan, raised more than £35,000 for the PCA Benevolent Fund and went through exactly what we will experience.

The low point of their trip came when one of their crew had to be airlifted off the mountain just a day before Base Camp and I hope to speak to some of the people who went and learn more about their trip.

People claim to have played at the Baltoro Glacier, mainly Pakistani soldiers passing the time, while trekkers waiting to tackle Everest itself have also had a hit at Base Camp.

Cricket is a game which lends itself to being played in some rather odd places (and several of our team have played on ice earlier this year)but what makes our attempt stand out from the rest is that it will be recognised by official bodies and have fully qualified umpires standing.

There is some debate as to where the highest actual cricket ground in the world is. The Bogota Sports Ground seems to take the title at 2,600 metres above sea level and has certainly hosted official games, but my personal favourite is the ground at Chali in India, even if it is slightly lower at around 2,400 metres.

This was built in 1893 by the Maharaja of Patiala who decided to hack the top off a mountain and build a cricket ground in order to watch the game he loved. Utterly bizarre and something I doubt will ever happen again!

The Mexico Olympics in 1968 took place at around 2,240 metres, while we have mentioned elsewhere in these pages that FIFA banned football matches above 2,750 metres for safety reasons.

As far as official sporting events on Everest goes, the Everest Marathon has to be the most gruelling and my hat comes off to all those who run that!

The more I read about the hardships people encounter at altitude, the more I realise just how ambitious this journey is. Then I remember that nothing worth having comes easy.

Alan.