Vigoro: A sport that combined cricket and tennis

Two gentlemen trying their hand at the sport of Vigoro

Indian cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar has been a regular visitor to Wimbledon in recent years and his friendship with tennis great Roger Federer is well known. While both of them are champions in different sports, they perhaps could have been sporting rivals, had the sport of Vigoro continued to thrive from the time that it originated.

A combination of cricket and tennis

At the start of the 20th century, London-based traveler John George Grant invented a new sport called “Vigoro”, which was basically a combination of the two sports. The game was closer to cricket than tennis, with the players having to bat, bowl and field in an area with the dimensions of a cricket field, but they had to do so using tennis racquets. The ball used was made of rubber and six stumps were placed, as opposed to three, at both ends of the wicket.

The game had eight to eleven players playing per team and was played on a cricket pitch, although a trifle shorter in length than normal. There was no restriction on the number of overs and the batters batted from one end only, possibly to prevent wastage of time. The bowler had to serve the ball tennis-style and the batsmen had to run on making contact. Fielders caught the ball by initially lobbing the ball, on arrival, in the air with their racquets and would, then, complete the catch by resting the ball on the face of the racquet.

The rest of the rules of the game, i.e. scoring patterns and mode of dismissals, were the same as in cricket.

Attempt to make Tennis more ‘masculine’

Speaking of the possible reasons for the introduction of Vigoro, Elizabeth Wilson, author of the Love Game: A History of Tennis, from Victorian Pastime to Global Phenomenon, said: "At that time cricket, along with football, was seen as the sport.

"Tennis was perceived to be more effeminate, more of a social event. Perhaps this was an attempt to turn it into something more masculine. Converting tennis into a team game might have helped that."

The cricket and tennis authorities initially took kindly to this new sport, with a match being played in October 1902 between an eleven captained by tennis star EH Miles and a team led by England cricketer Bobby Abel at Lord’s Cricket Ground. The team led by Miles came out triumphant, and it was found over a period of time that tennis players were more adept at the game than cricketers.

Vigoro’s popularity in Australia

While there was enthusiasm in England surrounding the game initially, it waned over time with there being a lot of confusion over the rules. This led to Grant ditching the idea of using tennis racquets, and he, instead, created a round-bottomed, long-handled wooden bat. Therefore, tennis-style serving by the bowler was replaced by traditional cricket bowling.

While the game eventually became extinct in England, it gained prominence in Australia where it was introduced during the First World War. Ettie Dodge, who was President of the of the New South Wales Women's Vigoro Association and founding President (1932–66) of the All Australian Vigoro Association, had a major role in promoting the game Down Under. She was entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that the game remained in good health after Grant’s death in 1927. The fact that the game is still being played, predominantly, by women in Australia illustrates the brilliant work she did in promoting the sport.