'Still call Australia home': Rod Laver's staggering bushfire gesture

All-time great Rod Laver has stunned fans and offered up his 1969 original Dunlop Maxply International wooden racquet to the Australian bushfire appeal.

The 11-time Grand Slam winner has offered up the unique item and said he hopes it raises money for a good cause.

‘I’M DELIGHTED’: Shock $1 million buyer of Shane Warne's baggy green revealed

Laver now resides in the US, but said he “still calls Australia home” in the message to his fans.

“I'm auctioning one of my favourite Dunlop 1969 racquets for the Australian Bushfire Relief,” he wrote on Twitter.

“I am deeply saddened by the fires that have ravaged this beautiful land. I still call Australia home.”

The money raised will go towards the Australian Red Cross, Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund and the Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors.

You can bid on the Dunlop Maxply International wooden racquet here.

Warne’s baggy green sells for $1 million

Other sporting greats have also donated similar unique items.

Australian cricket legend Shane Warne's baggy green cap has made more than $1 million at auction to aid those affected by bushfires, with the Commonwealth Bank revealed as the buyer.

When bidding closed on Friday morning, the famous cap was sold for $1,007,500 to 'M.C. from Sydney', according to the auction house's website.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) was later revealed as the buyer, announcing it would take the cap on a national tour to raise additional funds for fire-ravaged communities before it became a permanent exhibit at the Bradman Museum in Bowral, NSW.

The million-dollar sum more than doubled the previous record for bids on cricket memorabilia, shattering the benchmark Sir Don Bradman’s cap fetched by more than half a million dollars.