Shane Warne’s Former Manager James Erskine: “All Three Kids Are Completely Shocked…This Is Like A Bad Dream”; Victorian Prime Minister Daniel Andrews: “I have spoken to the Warne family again today and they have accepted my offer of a state funeral to remember Shane”
Shane Warne’s family accepted the offer of a state funeral following the cricket icon’s sudden death.
Warne died at the age of 52 on Friday after a suspected heart attack while on Koh Samui, Thailand. His family is said to be “broken” and “completely shocked” by the news, according to his manager James Erskine.
Warne died of a suspected heart attack a day after arriving on the Thai island of Koh Samui. His management released a statement saying that medical personnel had been unable to revive him after they found him unconscious in his villa.
“All three children are completely shocked,” Erskine said. “I talked to them yesterday and Jackson just said, ‘We’re hoping he walks in the door. This is like a bad dream.’
“Keith, Shane’s father, is a pretty strong person, but like everyone else, he’s devastated, they can’t believe what happened.”
Since then, tributes have poured in to Warne, who revolutionized cricket for spinners, while being one of the sharpest and most compelling minds in the game.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews tweeted that details of Warne’s state funeral “will be finalized in the coming days” and said it “will be an opportunity for Victorians to pay tribute to his contribution to their sport, to our state.” and to the country.”
Thai police, citing information from his family, say Warne had experienced chest pains before his death and had a medical history of asthma and some heart problems.
Yuttana Sirisombat, superintendent of the Bo Phut police station on Koh Samui, explained that Warne “had seen a doctor about his heart”.
He added that Warne’s body would be flown to Surat Thani on the Thai mainland on Sunday for an autopsy, but declined to comment when asked about the probable cause of death.
The leg spinner collected 708 Test wickets in 145 matches, the second-highest in history, and 1,001 international wickets in total, including 293 in 194 one-day internationals before ending his career in Australia in 2007.
He handed over the famous ‘Ball of the Century’ to see off Mike Gatting at Old Trafford in 1993.
Victoria’s tourism and sport minister Martin Pakula also confirmed that the Great Southern stand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground will be renamed the SK Warne stand in honor of the greats.
“We will change the name from the Great Southern Stand to the SK Warne stand and we will do so as soon as we can,” Pakula said.
“I can think of no better tribute to the greatest cricketer this state has ever produced than to rename the stand SK Warne and, whatever happens to that stand in the future, whether it is rebuilt, refurbished or refurbished, will remain SK Warne”. he will remain in perpetuity because the legend of him will live on in perpetuity.”
Cricket Australia chairman Dr Lachlan Henderson noted that renaming the stand “would seem like a very appropriate recognition” of Warne.
“He’s been an icon of the game, obviously with St Kilda Cricket Club, Victoria, our Australian side for so many years. He’s also played cricket around the world. So it’s a very fitting tribute,” he added.
“Just here this morning passing a junior cricket ground in Victoria I saw a young bowler bowling a beautifully flown ball which hit the bat and I’m sure someone was watching that young bowler as he embarked in his professional career.”
Sky Sports Cricket’s Nasser Hussein…
“To me, he was arguably the greatest cricketer who ever played.
“The game is about entertaining people and there was never a dull moment when Shane Warne had the ball in his hand. It was absolutely great.”
“The leg flipper was a dying art before it burst onto the scene; we’d never heard of a flipper, and then all of a sudden we used to set up with it. He’d throw us a ball that was short and you’re like ‘ah, Shane missed it today,’ and then the next ball was the flipper and it went right through us. He was an exceptional cricketer.
“When Australia really needed him in that 2005 Ashes series, when England were on top of them and they were falling apart, there was an Australian who stood up and said ‘not today.’ He got wickets for the shed charge, he got runs for he also released a load and showed a lot of fight and a lot of character.
