A doctor will be on hand when the world's highest game of cricket is played.

Isla Cox, from Brighton, is currently climbing Mount Everest with 49 intrepid explorers who are aiming to make history by holding the Twenty20 match.

The Nokia Maps Everest Test will set a world record for the highest altitude ever recorded for a field sport when it goes ahead today.

Two teams will battle it out to raise more than £250,000 for the charities The Himalayan Trust UK and The Lord's Taverners.

Miss Cox, 31, has taken part in expeditions before but has never taken on the Everest challenge.

She said: “It's been going ok. The first few days were a really hard slog and the last couple of days we have been getting more in the way of altitude sickness.

“No one is too bad but there is certainly quite a few people with headaches.”

The team of employers include lawyers, medics and city workers from across the UK who will be split into two opposing sides - Team Hillary, captained by Glen Lowis, and Team Tenzing, captained by Hayden Main.

The gruelling nine-day trek started on Tuesday. The team are trekking up through the Himalayas to Everest Base Camp, to a plateau of 5,165 metres called Gorak Shep, where the cricket match will be played on a frozen lake bed.

Miss Cox, who works in a practice in Shoreham and does some shifts in Worthing Hospital's accident and emergency department, has taken mascara and sweets as her two luxury items.

She said: “It's a good challenge. Even when we are walking around the air is quite thin. All the doctors on the trip know that they are going to get a lot busier over the next few days.”

Breathing at high altitude is similar to breathing through a straw and months of training has been invested to ensure every team member reaches Everest Base Camp fully prepared for what lies ahead. The climbers resting heart rate will increase by 30% due to the extreme altitude.

The team will stop on their ascent to teach cricket to the children of Khumjung, as well as donate their cricket kit upon their descent.

To follow The Nokia Maps Everest Test or to make a donation to the supporting charities go to www.theeveresttest.com.