Having a ball with an old sport anew
THE secret behind the rise of women’s cricket in the Far North lies in one of the oldest sports in the region.
Vigoro has honed the handeye skills of hundreds for more than 85 years and while their season is over, many have stayed on the park to join Cairns cricket clubs in the burgeoning ladies competitions.
From a distance some would be hard pressed telling the two sports apart.
But Cairns Vigoro Association deputy president and representative coach Jeanene Lynam said rather than big hits, vigoro was about classic fielding moves and reactions.
For one, the vigoro bats are paddle-shaped and in the same vein as some would remember playing backyard cricket, if you hit the ball in front of the wicket, you run.
Just hitting the rubber ball is tough enough when the “bowler” throws it at full pelt as batters brave it with no protective equipment.
“It makes it a very quick game, as opposed to overs upon overs and choosing a ball to hit,” Lynam said.
“You get a straight ball, you have to hit it.
“The competition is quite close. But it’s socially emphasised.”
Lynam believed the rise of female cricket could in turn lead to a resurgence in vigoro, now only played in an organised manner in Queensland and Tasmania.
“We have half a dozen girls in the Cairns side that are playing cricket so they easily transition to cricket in the field,” she said.
“Cricket in Cairns and Mareeba has really grown, which we’re really excited about, because we can share. Last year we went up to Mareeba to hold a bit of an exhibition up there, so we actually work quite closely.”
Cairns sends A-grade, under-18 and over-35 teams south every January following the completion of a 16-round season. Six teams participated in the latest season.
“It has a very strong history because it is a very old sport. Vigoro is played in that time of year coming out of winter and into early summer and that’s about avoiding the heat,” Lynam said.
“A lot of our teams are a mix of our older, more experienced players and juniors. We don’t have a primary school-aged competition and are working on that and building our numbers up.”
Cairns Vigoro Association secretary Nadine Pinto, who was part of the grand final winning “PJays” team last season, said the code was working on establishing more junior pathways to get back to the sport’s halcyon days, when clubs from as far as Gordonvale came to Cairns on the light rail to compete as one of 16 teams in the region.
“You often find that people who bring their kids along know what the sport is or they played, so we run a come-andtry thing and skill-based training for under-8s,” she said.
“I would say there’s more vigoro players playing cricket than cricketers playing vigoro.
“We don’t wear protective equipment though, so we’re tougher.”
The Cairns vigoro season runs from August through to December then players can join representative squads.
The association caters for players of all ages.