Shane Warne mixed with Mick Jagger and Elton John, bowled to Ed Sheeran in the practice nets at the spiritual home of cricket, and for a while was engaged to be married to Liz Hurley. He had poker face for poker, a head for cricket and a knack for taking wickets and for making friends.
In the wake of his death from a suspected heart attack at the age of 52 in Thailand on March 4, ‘larger than life’ was a typical description of the Australian leg-spin bowler from his fellow cricket stars, actors, comedians, musicians, politicians, personalities and everyday fans. With his tinted blond hair, mischievous demeanor and competitive streak, Warne transcended a sport which, because of his prodigious talent, launched him into popular culture in the far-flung parts of the cricket world.
Coldplay vocalist Chris Martin wrote a song, The Eulogy, which was played at the private family funeral on March 20. On Wednesday (March 30), it will be one of the tributes, along with others from Elton John, Robbie Williams and Sheeran, played at a public memorial service at Warne’s beloved Melbourne Cricket Ground.
More than 50,000 people will gather for the memorial at the stadium where Warne produced some of his milestone moments – including taking his 700th wicket in test cricket in 2006, something he was the first to achieve.
A section at the vast MCG venue will be renamed in Warne’s honor. A statue of Warne in a full delivery stride already stands outside the stadium and has become an unofficial place for people to reflect and lay tributes for the last three weeks.
Nasser Hussain pays tribute to Shane Warne with a beautiful rendition of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’.
Warne’s public memorial service is being held at the MCG in Australia on Wednesday at 1:30pm IST. pic.twitter.com/2hHZM7T7hm
— ICC (@ICC) March 30, 2022
Much of Warne’s fame can be attributed to his instant success in the Ashes, the storied and intense cricket rivalry between England and Australia, a former colony, that dates back to the 1800s and has produced some of the iconic moments in the sport.
A leg-spinner – a kind of wrist-spin bowling that wasn’t common at the highest levels of the game in the early 1990s – Warne was developing a reputation as a mystery bowler when he arrived in England for the 1993 Ashes series a little over a year into his international career.
“I felt we had a weapon that no one else in world cricket had,” Mark Taylor, a teammate on that tour and a future Australia captain, said in the Amazon Prime documentary ‘Shane’ which was released weeks before Warne died.
Schedule of program during Shane Warne’s memorial at the MCG on Wednesday (March 30)…
* Shane Warne’s 700th Wicket Moment
* Welcome to Country: Wurundjeri Elder
* Master of Ceremonies: Eddie McGuire
* Australian National Anthem: Greta Bradman
* Hollywood star Eric Bana voiced tribute package
* Family Tribute: Keith Warne
* Taped tributes from Hollywood star Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Hurley
* Taped performance by Elton John ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down’
* Panel hosted by Mark Howard and featuring Mark Taylor, Allan Border, Merv Hughes, Nasser Hussain and Brian Lara.
* Taped performance by Coldplay ‘Yellow’
* Reflection: Andrea Egan, UN Ambassador
* Taped tributes from Greg Norman, Kelly Slater, Danni & Kylie Minogue
* Live performance by Jon Stevens of INXS/Noiseworks medley
* Dermott Brereton voiced tribute package
* Panel hosted by Andy Lee and featuring Dimitri Mascarenhas, Aaron Hamill, Glenn Robbins and Sam Newman
* Taped performance by Robbie Williams ‘Angels’
* Family Tribute: Jason Warne
* Taped tributes from Sachin Tendulkar, Michael Clarke, Glenn McGrath, Ian Botham, Stephen Fleming, Wasim Akram
* Taped performance by Ed Sheeran ‘Thinking Out Loud’
* Family Tributes: Jason Warne, Summer Warne, Jackson Warne and Brooke Warne
* Live performance: Anthony Callea ‘The Prayer’
* Trumpeter plays ‘When the Siants Go Marching In’
* Shane Warne Stand officially unveiled by Summer, Jackson and Brooke Warne
When and where to to watch Shane Warne’s memorial in India?
The Shane Warne service will be live streamed on cricket.com.au website and the CA Live app and will begin 130pm IST onwards.
