Dougie Waters loves nothing more than a weekend barbie and cricket match with his mates. But his paradise on earth is destroyed when his best mate and neighbour Norm is forced to leave town and their new boss, a pompous English administrator called Edward Lords, moves in. The animosity between the two men peaks during one fateful backyard cricket match when Dougie hits a ball that accidentally stuns Edward's prize winning cat, Dexter. The cat falls into the roaring BBQ and is instantly incinerated, leaving only ashes. Dougie's son captures footage of the unfortunate event on camera and it is uploaded onto YouTube where the video instantly goes viral! The idea of a backyard cricketing challenge is hatched, with the winner keeping the ashes of Edward's deceased cat, Dexter. The two teams battle it out in the greatest game of backyard cricket ever for the Backyard Ashes.
Writing
Dialogue that captures Australian suburbia with zero filter
Acting
Andrew S. Gilbert's everyman chaos energy is perfect
Practical Effects
Actual backyard cricket nonsense, no green screen BS
Director
Mark Grentell
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'Ashes' name deliberately mocks the actual Ashes cricket rivalry between Australia and England, reducing centuries of sporting trauma to a dead cat.
Director Mark Grentell shot in his actual hometown of Wagga Wagga, and several cast members are local cricket club regulars—those bowling actions are suspiciously authentic.
AU
US
