Basil Augustus Rigg (12 August 1925 – 15 March 2025) was an Australian cricketer who played for

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

in the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

Life and career

The son of Herbert William Rigg (1896–1960) and Bertha Mary Rigg, nee Hardy (1895–1957), Basil Augustus Rigg was born at Nurse Harvey's Hospital in Bulwer street, Highgate on 12 August 1925. Rigg attended

Aquinas College, Perth Aquinas College, informally known as Aquinas or AC, is an Independent school, independent Roman Catholicism in Australia, Roman Catholic Single-sex education, single-sex Primary school, primary and Secondary school, secondary Day school, day a ...

, 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

and was the leading goal-kicker for WANFL club

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

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 cons ...

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

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 was a Life Member and 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 ...

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

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

. Rigg died on 15 March 2025, at the age of 99.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rigg, Basil 1925 births 2025 deaths 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 20th-century Australian sportsmen