Following the shock death of one of nation’s greatest ever cricketers, Shane Warne, it has been confirmed the MCG’s Great Southern Stand will be renamed the S. K. Warne Stand in honour of the 52-year-old Victorian who died while on holiday in Thailand.
READ MORE: Pat Cummins’ powerful tribute to Warne
READ MORE: Ten of the best from Shane Warne’s career
READ MORE: How Warnie defined a generation
GALLERY: Warne’s remarkable cricket life in pictures
Known around the cricket globe as “Warnie,” he revived and elevated the art of leg spin bowling when he emerged on the international scene in the 1990s and was a central character in one of Australia’s most successful eras in the sport. He also was one of cricket’s larger-than-life showmen.
Victorian sports minister Martin Pakula has announced the Great Southern Stand at the MCG will be renamed as soon as possible.
“I don’t want to talk through the [renaming] process other than to say I had a conversation with Dan a couple of hours ago and he’s exchanged messages with Shane’s brother and whilst they might be a technical process that would normally be gone through, sometimes you need to dispense with that,” Pakula said.
“You need to respond in the way that I think the whole community would think is appropriate.”
Warne’s family has been offered a state funeral by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.
“To us, he was the greatest – but to his family, he was so much more,” Mr Andrews said.
“Our hearts are breaking for Shane’s family and friends – and they are in the thoughts of all Victorians.
“I have offered a state funeral to his family so Victorians can pay tribute to his legacy and contribution to our state, community and country.”
Warne was noted as much for his life off the field as on it, but there was denying his impact on the field.
Among his career highlights were back-to-back player-of-the-match awards in the semifinals and final of the 1999 Cricket World Cup, being included among the Five Cricketers of the 20th Century by Wisden, colloquially known as the sport’s bible, and being part of five Ashes-winning teams against England. He also played in 194 one-day internationals.
Warne made an underwhelming test debut against India in Sydney in 1992 but quickly rose to become a key figure across all formats during one of the greatest sustained periods of dominance by any team in world cricket.
He had accumulated career figures of 1-335 by the time he was asked to bowl during the second innings of his third test, against Sri Lanka in ’92, and he finished the match by taking three wickets without conceding a run in 13 deliveries to secure an unlikely, narrow victory.
Warne was often given the ball when Australia was in trouble or desperate for a wicket, and so often he was able to turned matches around with a mesmerising spell of bowling,
He wrote himself into folklore when he delivered the “Ball of the Century” with his first toss of the 1993 Ashes tour, bowling Mike Gatting with a delivery that turned from well outside leg stump to clip the off bail.
“It’s one of those wonderful highlights of the game,” Gatting said in 2018. “One of those bits of history that belongs not only to me but to probably the best legspinner of all time.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!