Live the great Aussie backyard dream, where summer sounds like the thwack of a tennis ball, taped on one side for extra swing, cracking off a willow bat in your very own backyard “Ashes” with Raine & Horne.

With “The Ashes” returning to Australia this summer (the first Test runs from November 21–25, 2025, at Perth Stadium), cricket fans will again be glued to the rivalry that brings Australia and England together and our backyards alive. This year, Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and the English will take on Pat Cummins (hopefully), Steve Smith, Travis Head and the rest of Australia’s Baggy Green cricketing heroes.

Raine & Horne is tapping into our communal love of the Ashes and backyard cricket by showcasing a stellar top order of properties perfect for playing a friendly “backyard test match” with family and friends.

After all, Raine & Horne knows a thing or two about cricket history. Our Rural SA office sold a former Don Bradman property back in 2021, which, 99.94[i] times out of 100, you’d think would come with a cricket pitch, but it surprisingly didn’t!

Where luxury, lifestyle and cricket come together

The dynamic duo of Priscilla Asi and Jaxon Chadwick of Raine & Horne Bacchus Marsh have bowled up this extraordinary seven-bedroom, three-bathroom property in the prestigious Manning Estate at 3 Vigor Court, Darley. This exquisite family sanctuary offers luxury, lifestyle, and cricketing excellence on a sprawling allotment of approximately 5,800 square metres, just 50 kilometres northwest of Melbourne.

At the heart of this property, selling for between $1.78 million and $1.985 million, is the kitchen that flows effortlessly into the dining and living zones, complemented by two laundries and a dedicated home office with dual workstations. Outdoors, a sparkling in-ground pool, complete with a pool umbrella and a Bali hut, creates a resort-style ambience, while the BBQ space and gazebo with blinds invite year-round entertaining.

And for budding Mitchell Starcs or Cameron Greens, the pièce de résistance is the professionally installed cricket pitch with a pull-across net, which is perfect for your own backyard Ashes this summer. Green thumbs and would-be groundskeepers will also appreciate the landscaped gardens, lush lawns, an automated sprinkler system, and a ride-on mower to minimise outfield maintenance.

A property in Murraylands that hits luxury for six

You’ll bat up a storm with this extraordinary home at 62 Kittelty Road (Woodlane), Mypolonga in South Australia. Thoughtfully designed with high ceilings, expansive windows, and a clever floor plan, this residence oozes luxury and cricketing charm. Featuring four bedrooms, three bathrooms, multiple living spaces, a gorgeous country-style kitchen, and a triple garage, it’s listed between $1.5 and $1.6 million by the high-performing team of Casey DeMichele and Michael Cox from Raine & Horne Murraylands.

And for cricket fans, you’ll be right at home with this elite listing, billed as the “ultimate sporting property.” Spanning more than nine acres, it offers a full-size tennis court, an indoor basketball stadium complete with a dunk pit, and, best of all, a fully-fledged cricket pitch with nets, which is perfect for the next generation of South Australians dreaming of emulating local Test heroes Travis Head and Alex Carey in the Australian side.

Howzat! Properties with long boundaries that are perfect for backyard test battles

Other Raine & Horne listings offer plenty of space for classic backyard battles, such as 23 Oxley Street, Kandos in NSW, on the market for an affordable $440,000 and listed by Nicole Stearman and Andrew Shipman of Raine & Horne Gulgong | Kandos in the Mid-Western region of New South Wales.

Perfect for those seeking to open the batting on a first home, this charming property features three spacious bedrooms with built-in wardrobes, split-system air conditioning in the main bedroom, and open-plan living, dining, and kitchen zones ideal for nurturing a warm family atmosphere.

Set on a generous 1,214 sqm block, the fully enclosed backyard is tailor-made for pets, cubby houses, and lively games of backyard cricket, the kind that might inspire the next Josh Hazlewood or Sam Konstas.

In this year’s Ashes, Queensland will be represented by stars Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja. At the same time, Michael Skuse of Raine & Horne Innisfail has the perfect northeastern Queensland property for a backyard cricketing battle.

Set on the classic quarter-acre block, this five-bedroom home at 194 Sundown Road, Sundown offers the ideal blend of country-style comfort and the benefits of relaxed rural living. With a generous 1,000 sqm land area, there’s ample room to roll out a cricket pitch, which is perfect for budding Labuschagnes and Khawajas to hone their “test match” skills.

Cricket’s greatest rivalry and Raine & Horne share a common beginning

The Ashes is one of sport’s oldest and fiercest rivalries. It began in August 1882, when Australia defeated England at The Oval in London, prompting The Sporting Times to declare the “death” of English cricket[ii]. On the 1882–83 tour to Australia, English captain Ivo Bligh vowed to “regain the Ashes.”

In a remarkable coincidence, Raine & Horne’s story began soon after, when Tom Raine, a handy first-change bowler who was as astute on the pitch as off, teamed up with his opening partner Joseph Horne to launch the iconic firm on 23 May 1883. This launch in Sydney came just weeks after Bligh’s English side departed Australia, having famously received the now-iconic terracotta urn, said to contain burnt bails, after successfully regaining the Ashes.

This summer, whether you’re barracking for the Australians or the English or hoping to host your own backyard Test match showdown, Raine & Horne can help you find the perfect property where every summer sounds like leather on willow.

[i] The Bradman test average: https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/donald-bradman-4188

[ii] https://www.kiaoval.com/on-this-day-in-1882the-ashes-are-born-at-the-kia-oval/#:~:text=140%20years%20ago%20today%2C%20on%20the%2029,cremated%20and%20the%20Ashes%20taken%20to%20Australia.