A WINCHESTER doctor will trade his stethoscope for a cricket bat when he scales Mount Kilimanjaro to play the world’s highest match at 19,000 feet.

Simon Rogers, of St Catherines Road, Highcliffe, is part of a group climbing the Tanzanian mountain to raise £200,000 for Cancer Research UK, Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation and Africa development charity Tusk.

On September 27 two teams will climb almost 20,000 feet over seven gruelling days, battling freezing temperatures and extreme altitude sickness, before playing a full T20 match in a crater at the summit.

Only two thirds of the mountain’s 25,000 annual climbers reach the crater, and none have ever topped the feat with a game of cricket.

Simon said: “I think it’ll be like playing cricket on the moon. It’s going to be dusty, and there will be rocks and all sorts of stuff flying around. At that altitude the speed of the game will be significantly reduced.”

The 39-year-old will be joined by cricket legends including Ashley Giles MBE, who won the Ashes with England in 2005, and former England captain and now head of English women’s cricket Clare Connor OBE.

“I’m nervous,” he added. “But rubbing shoulders with the cricket experts and the opportunity to do it in such an unusual location is exciting.”

The previous world record for the highest cricket match was set at 16,945 feet by British cricketers on the side of Mt Everest in 2009.

The Kili Madness team have raised £41,000 so far in their attempt to knock the record out of the park.

For more information visit mtkilimadness.com or follow twitter.com/kilimadness.