Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews announced the date and location of the service on Wednesday; Andrews said that “there was no place in the world more appropriate”; Shane Warne’s family will hold a private funeral before the memorial service at the MCG
A state memorial service for Shane Warne will be held at the MCG
Shane Warne’s state memorial service will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 30.
Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Wednesday that the MCG will host the service honoring the cricket legend. Warne’s family will hold a private funeral before the memorial service at the MCG.
“There is no place in the world more appropriate to fire Warnie than the G,” Andrews said on social media.
The MCG was the scene of Ashes de Warne’s famous hat-trick in 1994 and his 700th Test wicket on Boxing Day in 2006, during his final series before retiring from international cricket. He was born and raised in Melbourne.
Warne, widely regarded as one of the all-time cricketing greats, has died at the age of 52 of natural causes.
Victoria’s tourism and sport minister, Martin Pakula, had already announced that the Great Southern Stand at the MCG will change its name to the SK Warne Stand in honor of the star that spins its legs.
“We will change the name of the Great Southern Stand to the SK Warne Stand and we will do so as soon as we can,” said Pakula.
“I cannot think of a better tribute to the greatest cricketer this state has ever produced than to rename the stand the SK Warne Stand and no matter what happens to that stand in the future, be it rebuilt, restored or refurbished, it will remain the SK Warne Stand in perpetuity because its legend 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 team 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 carrer.”
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.
“Some people are brilliant at the game, some people are great, some people struggle. Shane Warne had it all in spades.
“He was also a very, very intelligent cricketer, as we have seen from the comments since he retired from the game.”
Sir Andrew Strauss, who fell to Warne during the ashes of 2005 in what became known as the ‘Edgbaston Ripper’, said: “He was literally the greatest showman. There will be other cricketers whose records could be as good as his, but nobody played the game the way he did.
“It was the flamboyance, the great aura he had as a cricketer, his enthusiasm for the game, the incredible competitive spirit he had and of course the extraordinary skills he had in those magical fingers of his.
“It was the biggest challenge I’ve ever had as a cricketer to face and I’m sure there are plenty of other cricketers who would say the same.
“You were playing the grandmaster of the game and he let you know too.”
Current Australia Test captain Pat Cummins said: “Warnie was an all-time great cricketer, once in a century and his records will live forever. We all grew up watching Warnie, idolizing him. We had posters of him on the wall. and he had his earrings. We love Warnie so much, his showmanship, his charisma and his tactics. He just wanted himself and the team around him to win games for Australia and most of all his incredible skill as a leg spinner.
