Melbourne Cricket Ground, home to many of Australia’s famed spin bowler Shane Warne’s greatest sporting moments, will host his public farewell on March 30th.
Shane Warne’s state funeral is set to take place at Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 30 (Reuters photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Shane Warne’s State Funeral will be held at Melbourne Cricket Ground
- The family have announced they will hold a private funeral before the MCG service
- Warne died of a suspected heart attack in Thailand last week
Australian spin legend Shane Warne’s state memorial service will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 30. Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews on Wednesday confirmed the MCG as the site for a state memorial service honoring Warne, who died of a suspected heart attack last week in Thailand. He was 52.
The family have announced they will hold a private funeral before the MCG service.
“There’s no better place on earth to say goodbye to Warnie than the ‘G,'” Andrews tweeted Wednesday.
The MCG was the stage of Warne’s famous Ashes hat-trick in 1994 and his 700th Test wicket on Boxing Day 2006 during his final series before retiring from international cricket. He was born and raised in Melbourne.
Autopsy results confirmed the death was due to natural causes, with no evidence of third-party fault.
After his death on the Thai holiday island of Koh Samui on Friday, Warne’s body was taken by ferry to the mainland city of Surat Thani on Sunday. It was transported to the Thai capital Bangkok on Monday evening and prepared for the flight home to Melbourne.
Warne’s family issued a statement Monday, describing the night of his death on March 4 as the beginning of “a never-ending nightmare.”
