Vigoro is an Australian game for women that resembles both cricket and baseball. Vigoro is played with a paddlelike bat and a ball, on an area called a pitch 58 feet (17.7 meters) long with stumps at each end. If the batter hits the ball outside a boundary called the batting crease, she must run. There are 12 players in a team. Two members of the team are bowlers, who bowl alternately. Vigoro differs from cricket in that there are no overs (an over consists of a fixed number of balls delivered from one end of the pitch). One bowler uses a white ball, the other uses a red ball. Field placings are similar but not identical to those in cricket. Neither bowler is allowed to field a ball from the other bowler. Matches consist of two innings, and the scoring follows cricket rules.
Competitions are played in summer and winter. The game is primarily played in New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania. The Vigoro Association is the governing body for the game. Interstate competitions are held each year for the Dodge Cup, named for the first president of the association. Vigoro was introduced into Australia about 1919 by an Englishman, John George Grant, who invented the game.
