Brooke, Jackson, and Summer Warne, Shane Warne’s three children, conducted the special burial ceremony for the Australia cricket legend in Melbourne on Sunday.
Around 100 relatives and friends attended the invite-only celebration, which included former England captain Michael Vaughan and ex-Australia captains Michael Clarke, Mark Taylor, and Allan Border.
Shane Warne, 52, died of a suspected heart attack while on vacation in Thailand’s Koh Samui on March 4.
Warne was a lifelong supporter of the Australian Football League (AFL), and his funeral was conducted at St Kilda’s home field.
Former AFL greats were among those who attended the event, which was hosted by television broadcaster Eddie McGuire, who headlines the AFL show Fox Footy. “You pitched the ball to Warne, you sat in the (Melbourne Cricket Ground) Southern Stand and he performed the things you dreamed of doing as a youngster,” McGuire said in statements carried by the Daily Mail.
“The magical thing about Shane Warne was that he strewed his gold dust all over the place.” Former AFL player Sam Newman and performer Glenn Robbins, with whom Warne starred in the comedy program Kath and Kim, also paid homage.
Before the service, a lap of honor was performed.
Due to business obligations, Warne’s former girlfriend, British actress Liz Hurley, was unable to attend the burial. “My heart hurts that I won’t be in Australia for Shane’s funeral,” Hurley, 56, said on Instagram. I was filming and couldn’t physically get there because of the time difference. It hasn’t fully hit me yet that he’s gone.”
On March 30, almost 50,000 cricket fans are anticipated to pack the MCG for Warne’s state memorial. The public will be able to purchase tickets for the event in the following days.
According to media reports, Sir Elton John will sing during the state burial via video connection, and additional video tributes will include performances by Ed Sheeran and Chris Martin of Coldplay. In the 1993 Ashes series against England, Warne became famous for bowling the ‘ball of the century to bamboozle and remove Mike Gatting. In a 15-year career covering 145 matches, he went on to take 708 Test wickets, the second-most in history, and 293 one-day international wickets, helping Australia win the 1999 World Cup.
