The leader of a team of adventurers said he hoped Captain Scott was looking down and smiling as they played extreme cricket at the South Pole to mark the 100th anniversary of his arrival there.
Britain beat the rest of the world by two wickets in a match which saw players swathed in bulky clothing, using a high-visibility orange ball and sliding on ice while braving temperatures plunging as low as -35°C.
Scott arrived at the South Pole in 1912 at the end of a gruelling expedition.
Now a team of British adventurers led by former SAS officer Neil Laughton have arrived.
Mr Laughton, chief executive of the Business Leadership Academy, said the explorers had been in great spirits as they marked the anniversary by playing a game against scientists from all over the world based at the Amundsen-Scott research station in Antarctica.
“We had a great game – Britain versus the rest of the world – and I am pleased to report that Britain won by two wickets,” he said.
“Obviously it was very cold and difficult with all the bulky clothing to bat and bowl and slide around in the field to catch the ball but we managed it fine.
“I thought it was quintessentially British and I wanted to do something that does not happen down here very often, if at all.”
He added that he hoped the game would have pleased Captain Scott.
“With the British outcome, at least he is looking down hopefully and this put a smile on his face,” he said.
Mr Laughton was joined on the expedition by Julie Ashmore, a businesswoman and mother of two young children from Banbury, Oxfordshire; James Balfour, an entrepreneur and adventurer who climbed Everest at the age of 24 and who is working in Poland.
Another member was Jonathan Beswick, an architect working in London who has ridden solo by motorbike across the Himalayas and joined them from Santiago.
The adventurers had walked up to 10 hours a day pulling sleds loaded with fuel and equipment in temperatures as low as -40°C, once wind chill was taken into account.
Mr Laughton said they had been lucky with the weather but Mr Beswick had suffered some frostbite on his face in the first few days of the trip.
“It is on the mend and he will make a full recovery, I am pleased to say,” he said.
He added: “It was generally pretty good and fairly stable in the Antarctic summer down here but even so on the plateau, at 3,048m, the ambient temperatures are something like -28°C to -30°C, and with the wind chill it can get to -40°C.
“It has been a good adventure. It has been great fun experience, it is a privilege to be here down at the South Pole and it is an extra-ordinary place. “It is the windiest, coldest place on Earth but it has been a great and wonderful experience. We are very lucky.”
He added that in spite of feeling ecstatic the team were looking forward to going home and having a hot shower.
The adventurers are fundraising for a range of charities including Save the Children, the British Schools Exploring Society and Fairbridge, which helps disadvantaged young people.
When Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his team arrived at the Pole in the early 20th century it was confirmed that their Norwegian rival Roald Amundsen had beaten them there.
Short of supplies and suffering from starvation and hypothermia, Scott’s party died one by one as they attempted to return to base.