Basil Augustus Rigg (born 12 August 1926) is an Australian former cricketer who played for

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

Life and career

Rigg attended

Aquinas College, Perth , motto_translation = Truth ConquersMassam, p. 18 , location = Salter Point, Perth, Western Australia , country = Australia , patron = Saint Thomas Aquinas , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Perth , pushpin_image ...

, and was playing first-grade cricket while still at school. He played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

and was the leading goal-kicker for

WANFL The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September ...

club

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in 1943. The following year he enlisted in the Australian Army and served overseas. A rover, he had a stint at West Perth before returning to Perth after the war. Towards the end of the decade he gave up football so he could concentrate on his promising cricket career. He however still remained active outside of cricket by playing baseball, and was a state representative in the

Claxton Shield The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010� ...

. An

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

, Rigg was a member of the Western Australian

-winning team in 1947/48. He played in two matches, including their win over Queensland which secured the Shield for the first time in the state's history. Rigg's contribution towards a successful campaign was limited, with 34 runs in four innings and no wickets. In all first-class matches that summer, he took just three wickets with his leg spin, despite bowling over 500 balls. His bowling was used less frequently in future seasons. He scored both of his first-class half-centuries in 1947/48, and both against national teams. He scored 54

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

against the touring Indian team and also put in his best performance with the ball by dismissing two batsmen, including their best in

Vijay Hazare Vijay Samuel Hazare (11 March 1915 – 18 December 2004) was an Indian cricketer. He captained India in 14 matches between 1951 and 1953. In India's 25th Test match, nearly 20 years after India achieved Test status, he led India to its first ...

. Playing against an Australian XI soon after, Rigg made 65 in the first innings, after initially retiring hurt on five. He also took the wicket of opener Bill Brown but conceded 65 runs in his six overs. It was perhaps his best match, as he had made his half-century against an attack featuring

Keith Miller Keith Ross Miller (28 November 1919 – 11 October 2004) was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. His ability, irreverent m ...

and four other bowlers who would later form part of "The Invincibles". In a long and successful career with the

Perth Cricket Club Perth Cricket Club is a cricket team based in Perth, Western Australia. The club competes in the Western Australian Grade Cricket (Premier cricket) competition. History The club was officially formed on May 23, 1862. at a meeting held at the ...

, Rigg was one of the finest all-rounders in the club's history. In 252 matches from 1941 to 1964 he scored over 8,200 runs and took 325 wickets. He is a Life Member and was named in the Team of the Century at the 150th Anniversary function held in 2012. Rigg's brother

Bert Bert or BERT may refer to: Persons, characters, or animals known as Bert *Bert (name), commonly an abbreviated forename and sometimes a surname *Bert, a character in the poem "Bert the Wombat" by The Wiggles; from their 1992 album Here Comes a Son ...

also played cricket for Western Australia. Their sister Marjorie and their mother represented Western Australia at

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rigg, Basil 1926 births Living people People educated at Aquinas College, Perth Australian cricketers Western Australia cricketers Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Perth Football Club players West Perth Football Club players Australian baseball players Australian Army personnel of World War II Baseball people from Western Australia Cricketers from Perth, Western Australia Sportsmen from Western Australia