Fives - Fives in Australia

Fives in Australia

Although almost unknown today, Fives was played in schools and universities in Australia in the nineteenth century. A court was opened at The Hutchins School in Hobart in November 1877, The court was described as "the only one, we believe, in the colony", and its dimensions as: "Length of floor, 21 ft.; height and width of court 14 ft. each. The court will be an open one, with a flagged floor, the walls will be built of brick, and cemented on the inside."

The erection of a Fives court on the Recreation Ground of the University of Melbourne is noted in the Council minutes of Trinity College in 1873, and there were newspaper reports of an "annual tournament in connexion with the University Fives Club" in 1881, when Professor Herbert Strong acted as judge. A double-handed tournament and a single-handed handicap tournament were played there in August 1883.