Wednesday night’s memorial to Shane Warne will be expanded to accommodate even more people, as thousands of Australians and international guests clamour to pay their respects to the cricket legend.
His old mate Eddie McGuire praised Warne for once again filling up the MCG.
“It’s building into something quite spectacular,” McGuire said, while announcing that more parts of the stadium would be opened up due to excessive demand.
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“We’ve had 50,000 people taking up the seat allocations so far, and we’d like to invite people to come because this is just going to be one of the great events of this city and this country, in many ways.”
“What we’ve found in the last two and a half weeks is not only the outpouring of emotion in Australia, but significantly around the world.”
In addition to all of the celebrity guests and sporting greats that were rattled off, there will be musical performances from Anthony Callea, Jon Stevens, Elton John, Chris Martin, Robbie Williams, and Ed Sheeran.
Brain Lara, Wasim Akram, and Nasser Hussain are among those who are flying in to Melbourne specifically for the occasion.
“This is a celebration of the life of Shane Warne – we had the funeral last Sunday week; a poignant, wonderful, experience … tomorrow night is an opportunity for everyone to be involved.”
The ceremony will culminate with the unveiling of the Great Southern Stand being re-named as the Shane Warne Stand.
“For me, Shane in so many ways is encapsulated by what’s happening tomorrow night. He was the ultimate performer, he was the ultimate great friend,” McGuire said.
“Brilliant cricketer, wonderful bloke, great poker partner – all those things. But at the same time, he was an international partner who never forgot his backyard.”
Former St Kilda captain and Warne’s friend, Aaron Hamill, said he was really looking forward to Wednesday.
“It’s a fitting tribute to a legend on and off, but it’s fantastic for the family and I know they’re very, very grateful to all involved,” he said.
Warne’s former Melbourne Stars teammate Glenn Maxwell said you’d be hard-pressed to find someone involved in cricket whose passing would draw this level of attention.
The pair first met when Maxwell was ’16 or 17′, when they faced off in Melbourne grade cricket.
“That was a pretty special thing for a teenager, to play against one of your idols – and sure enough he got me out after an over or two,” Maxwell said.
“Growing up I watched all the DVDs, I watched all his games and came to the MCG to watch him and then down the road I got a call from Eddie and Shane to come to the Melbourne Stars and we got closer and closer.”
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