Australian cricket great Shane Warne's state funeral will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on March 30. Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews Wednesday confirmed the iconic stadium as the venue to honour the legendary Warne with a fitting farewell.
Warne, regarded as probably the greatest spinner of all time, died of natural causes last week on the Thai resort island of Koh Samui in Thailand. He was 52.
His body was transported to Thailand's capital, Bangkok, Monday night after the post mortem and was being prepared to fly home. His body is expected to reach Melbourne Thursday morning. Warne was born and raised in the city.
The public memorial will take place after a private family service which is expected to be next week.
"There's nowhere in the world more appropriate to farewell Warnie than the 'G.
"Victorians will be able to pay tribute to Shane and his contribution our state, and his sport, at a memorial service at the MCG on the evening of March 30th," Andrews tweeted on Wednesday.
The MCG, also known simply as the 'G', already has a statue of Warne outside Gate 2. Unveiled in December 2011, it is one of the only five such statues erected at the venue. Another legendary Victorian, Neil Harvey has his statue near Jolimont Station.
Warne made his Test debut and also played his last in the traditional format of the game at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but the MCG was his home ground and it's where he had claimed an Ashes hat trick in 1994. Warne also got his 700th Test wicket at the 'G' on Boxing Day in 2006 during his final series.
The MCG's Great Southern Stand will also be renamed the S.K. Warne Stand in his honour as soon as possible.
As many as 100,000 people are expected to attend the memorial, which will most likely be held at twilight.
Warnie's celebrity friends like Coldplay's Chris Martin and singer Ed Sheeran are also likely to attend the memorial,
who performed at Michael Gudinski's state funeral almost a year ago to the day.
