Vigoro (Australia)
- Name of sport (game): Vigoro
- Name in native language: Vigoro
- Place of practice (continent, state, nation):
Australia
- History:
Vigoro is among the games in Australia played by women. Originally, the game combined the elements of tennis and cricket, but its modern-day form is more like a combination of baseball and cricket. John George Grant invented Vigoro in the year 1901 as a sport that required the players to use tennis rackets and wicket involving six stumps. George Grant invented the game at the start of the 20th century and introduced it into the curriculum of New South Wales in the 1920s.
Vigoro originated from an Anglo Norman word, vigorous. The word means active and strong in body. The word appeared in print for the first time on March 23rd, 1931 on Sydney Morning Herald.
The first major organized game of Vigoro was played by men before the MCC committee at Lord’s Cricket Ground, where court tennis star Eustace Miles’ team defeated the team led by Bobby Abel, the famous Surrey cricketer, winning by an innings. The earliest iterations of Vigoro saw the usage of tennis racquets, large rubber balls and six stumps in place of cricket’s usual 3-stump wicket. After some initial buzz, as it turned up in venues like Queen’s Club and Crystal Palace in the early half of the 1900s, English interest in the game began to subside. But a lack of English establishment did not mean extinction for Vigoro.
It found great press on Australia where it was introduced following the First World War This dissemination can be pinned on Ettie Doge, who had inherited the copyright of Viogro from John Grunt upon his death. Wife to a merchant who sold Vigoro equipment in South Wales (Dodge & Co.), Ettie was the second and long-time president of New South Wales Woman’s Vigoro Association since 1919, and also founded the AAA (All Australian Vigoro Association), taking up the role of the foundational president in 1932 to promote Vigoro in Australia. - Description:
The scoring and dismissals are similar to what you expect in cricket, but you should expect a few techniques that make Vigoro faster. Here are a few of them:
The pitch is shorter in length compared to the cricket pitch, the ball is light and the bat is differently shaped.
The game involves two teams made of 12 players each.
The game has no overs
The batters have to bat solely from one end
The game involves two alternating bowlers. It can integrate any form of throwing action provided that the thrower releases the ball above the shoulder.The ball is not as heavy as a cricket ball, but the court maintains roughly the same proportions and dimension of a modern cricket outfield, with a slightly smaller pitch. The object of the game, same as cricket and most other stick-and-ball games, is to simply score more than the opponent team. This is not done against a time limit or an over limit, however, turning the affair into a game of bowling to knock the stump off, so to speak. The lack of an over limitation is comparable to Test cricket – which was, after all, the only available cricket form at the time Vigoro was thought of.
The games are played between two teams of 12 players each – all of whom can bat, bowl, or field. The game is played in two innings where each team takes turn bowling and batting. An innings is dropped if the victory of one team is confirmed before it. Like cricket, batsmen can bat only from a striking end. Unlike cricket, there are no overs, and so no obligation to switch and swap bowlers over a threshold number of deliveries. Instead, two bowlers bowl alternately. The allowance of bowling actions is also much less inhibitive than Test cricket norms, with the only chief point of discouragement being underarm play.
- Current status:
Today, Vigoro has become a staple women’s sport in Australia and has various annual tournaments held across four divisions, including an interstate competition. Teams from Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland participate in these games, while at the same time hosting their local Vigoro leagues.
- Contacts:
Vigoro Australia
Web: https://vigoro.com.au/Queensland Vigoro Association
Postal Address: 19 Marvin Street, Eastern Heights, Q, 4305
Email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: https://www.qldvigoro.com.au
Fb: https://www.facebook.com/QueenslandVigoroAssociation/Ipswich Vigoro Association
25 Joyce Street East, Ipswich, QLD, Australia, Queensland
Tel.: +61 433 576 689
Email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: https://www.ipswichvigoro.com.au
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ipswichvigoro/
Fb: https://www.facebook.com/ipswichvigoro/Cairns Vigoro Association
Fb: https://www.facebook.com/cairnsvigoro/NSW Vigoro
Fb: https://www.facebook.com/nswvigoro/ - Sources of information :
Articles:
https://vigoro.com.au/
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28237387
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC19010816.2.4
https://www.abc.net.au/local/videos/2013/03/22/3721875.htm
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-15/vigoro-popular-sport-still-played-in-queensland-ipswich-cairns/101149908
https://www.sportzcraazy.com/vigoro-a-combination-of-cricket-and-tennis/Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9PqtPeCbD0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFs0XMTClmkThe information contained in the article comes from the following sources:
https://vigoro.com.au/
https://www.sportzcraazy.com/vigoro-a-combination-of-cricket-and-tennis/Source of photos used in this article and gallery:
https://vigoro.com.au/
https://www.cairnspost.com.au
https://www.qldvigoro.com.au/
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/ipswich/sport/new-captain-to-lead-young-guns-at-vigoro-championships/news-story/560422b630bdf97a478b7ad5f2190108
https://www.sportzcraazy.com/vigoro-a-combination-of-cricket-and-tennis/
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/fraser-coast/sport/vigoros-big-hit-on-oval/news-story/63df7ccb34c791d5966c636f088a8e21 - Gallery:
- Documents: