TUESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2014 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside Maze Runner speeds CAMPUS past Neeson’s • Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s Tombstones new year opens with record enrollment of 427 students P | 4 P | 8-9 RECIPE CONTEST • Send in your best recipe and win a dinner voucher for two Two teams are taking part | in a gruelling eight-day trek P 6 up the vast extinct volcano, FOOD the snow-capped peak of Africa’s highest mountain • Bulking up all those salads with Kilimanjaro to play a full Brussels sprouts Twenty20 game in the ice- covered crater just below its P | 7 rugged peak, at 5,785m. HEALTH • Brain study hints at how fibromyalgia works P | 11 TECHNOLOGY • 10 video-making apps that help you make the best home movies Cricket on top P | 12 LEARN ARABIC • Learn commonly used Arabic words of Kilimanjaro and their meanings P | 13 2 PLUS | TUESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2014 COVER STORY Cricket teams trek to world’s highest game on ‘roof of Africa’ ap, tent, water, food: check. All needed to scale the snow-capped peak of Africa’s highest mountain Kilimanjaro. Bat, ball, stumps, pads: check. Also needed when you’re hoping to break the Mworld record for the highest game of cricket ever played. Two teams are taking part in a gruelling eight-day trek up the vast extinct volcano, to play a full Twenty20 game in the ice-covered crater just below its rugged peak, at 5,785 metres (19,000 feet). Over 30 players and umpires — “Kilimanjaro is definitely not somewhere I thought I’d bowl a few overs, but the challenge thanks to the altitude is huge... bring it on!” English bowling legend Ashley Giles, one of the and a journalist — are making captains of the mixed professional and amateur teams, said. the trek to the top, along with a The eccentric dream, to hear the thwack of willow on leather over three miles (five kilo- metres) high, was thought up by expedition leader David Harper, a British hotel real estate Tanzanian support team of over consultant. Harper said he planned the match in a cafe after his wife told him the “only way he was a hundred, helping to carry the ever likely to play cricket at the highest level would be if he played on the top of a mountain”. After a week of climbing that began Saturday, teams plan to reach the peak at dawn on kit and food up to the top. Friday. But they then must play a full game in the crater of the dormant volcano, laying down a plastic track for the wicket over the ash before playing in the thin, freezing air surrounded by vast blocks of ice. Rain won’t stop play South African icon Makhaya Ntini, the country’s first black Test player, is also taking part in what he called an “massive, exciting challenge”. Once a herder in a rural area of the Eastern Cape, Ntini was the first black African to rep- resent South Africa at cricket, making his debut in 1997. “It is going to be like going back to the old days, playing a game in the dust in the rural areas, when you didn’t care where you played because you were just crazy for the game,” Ntini said, who played 101 Test matches and took 390 Test wickets. “That will be the greatest of things,” he said, speaking on the mountain, already high above the cloud level. Those facing the formidable bowler may be alarmed to hear that balls reportedly go far faster at higher altitude. But Ntini laughs, saying his otherwise dangerous delivery may this time be a little slower. “It won’t be my usual bowling. We’ll be playing in so many clothes with the cold, and then there are the heavy boots,” Ntini said, during the eight-day expedition up the flanks of Kilimanjaro. There will be half the level of oxygen than at sea level for the game, doubling energy needed for the match. The teams are taking oxygen tanks for medical emergencies. But while flurries of snow may be possible in the bitter cold, organiser Harper promises that at least “rain is unlikely to stop play”. Qualified umpires will ensure the charity game is played properly — and is eligible to break the record. The mainly English team also includes players from Australia, Canada, Kenya and South Africa. “It is a incredible challenge,” said Heather Knight, the other team captain, who back home is vice-captain of the English women’s team. The expedition of over 30 players and umpires — and an AFP journalist — are making the trek to the top, along with a Tanzanian support team of over a hundred, helping to carry the kit and food up to the top. PLUS | TUESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2014 3 The current record for the world’s highest game is 5,165 metres (16,945 feet), South African bowler Makhayao Ntini played in the Himalayas at Everest base camp in Nepal in 2009. dances with Tanzanian porters on If successful, the game on Kilimanjaro will be over 600 metres higher. the second day of the treck. ‘No jolly in the park’ Alan Curr, who played in the 2009 game on Everest, mourned the possible loss of his record and what he joked as his “best conversation starter”, but gave his full support to the teams. “The whole point of our trip was to inspire people to get off the sofa and do something with their lives,” Curr said from Japan, where he now teaches cricket. “I think they’ll find that once it’s done it was not all about the record; but raising funds, making new friends, and doing something that they will talk about forever.” While no technical climbing skills are needed, playing a game at two-thirds the height of Everest will have considerable risks, including acute mountain sickness. Curr, author of Cricket on Everest, warned climbers to take care. “We saw people being carried down from Everest base camp on stretchers, and two people died on the trek at the same time as we were there — and those guys weren’t doing 22-yard (20-metre) shuttle runs in pads and a helmet,” Curr said. “It’s no jolly in the park.” Players are raising funds for charities including Cancer Research and conser- vation charity Tusk Trust, which works to stem rampant poaching of elephants and other animals. Funds raised will also go towards building Rwanda’s first international cricket pitch. The game is growing rapidly in popularity there after being introduced by those who returned after fleeing genocide 20 years ago. Three former England captains — David Gower, Nasser Hussain and Andrew Strauss — all offered their support, as well as England women’s captain Charlotte Edwards. “They must be daft, the lot of them! It’s taking cricket to ridiculous heights,” Gower said. “This is an immense challenge,” said Hussain, poking fun at old teammate Porters trying to get a mobile phone Giles, warning, “Don’t forget to take some spare match balls, especially for when signal to call their wives. Gilo is bowling.” Strauss warned “the bowlers may struggle” on a freezing, high-altitude moun- tain pitch. “Climbing up the highest mountain in Africa to set up stumps, unpack the cucumber sandwiches and play the highest ever game of cricket will be a truly remarkable achievement,” BBC cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew said. AFP Kenyan player Rufus Camm practicing his shots 4 PLUS | TUESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2014 CAMPUS New faculty members Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s new year opens with record enrollment of 427 students arnegie Mellon University in Qatar welcomed 112 new students for the 2014-2015 academic Cyear, growing from an inaugural class of 41 students in 2004 to 427 students from 40 different students majoring in biological sciences, 183 stu- assistant professor, mathematics (PhD from Ohio countries in 2014. dents in business administration, 93 in computer State University); and Zelealem Yilma, visiting assist- “We are delighted with this year’s record enrol- science and 105 in information systems. In addition ant professor, mathematics, (PhD from Carnegie ment, which comprises 40 percent Qatari nation- to Carnegie Mellon’s full-time enrolment, 51 students Mellon University). als and an extremely diverse class overall. As we from other Education City institutions are cross- The university is already receiving applications for begin our second decade in Doha, we look forward registered to take classes at the university. the 2015-2016 academic year. Students are encour- to our continued partnership with Qatar Foundation Also this fall, new faculty members have joined the aged to apply early. The application deadline for the to develop the next generation of leaders in Qatar Qatar campus: Amal Helu, visiting associate pro- Fall 2015 academic year is March 1, 2015. and the world,” said Ilker Baybars, dean of Carnegie fessor, statistics (PhD, Old Dominion University); For more information on applying to Carnegie Mellon Qatar. Onur Kesten, associate professor, economics, (PhD, Mellon Qatar, visit: http://www.qatar.cmu.edu/admis- The figures show consistent growth, with 46 University of Rochester); Niraj Khare, visiting sion. The Peninsula QU, HBKU and Maersk Oil Qatar launch leadership programme for students programme of development areas of education and oil, can come activities to help university together to produce something that A students in Qatar embrace helps achieve the Qatar Foundation’s leadership roles during the country’s vision of “Unlocking Human Potential”. development was officially launched. Activities in the next year will EBDA, meaning start in Arabic, will include a business simulation in the use experience-based leadership tech- Qatar desert, an international serv- niques to develop students’ skills, along ice trip, ongoing leadership training, with constant coaching and reviews by and more.