Former Australia cricket captain Michael Clarke wrote an emotional tribute to his great friend Shane Warne after the legendary spinner died in Thailand on Friday.
The 52-year-old suffered a suspected heart attack in his villa in Koh Samui, with police not treating his death as suspicious.
Clarke, 40, made his Test debut in late 2002 and played in Warne's final series, a 5-0 Ashes home win over England in 2006/07.
The legendary spinner also handed his ODI no 23 shirt number over to Clarke, who has now described his great friend as "a superstar of the sport."
And he's also recalled an hilarious story of when he first visited the Victorian at home.
"One of the first times I ever went to Warnie's house, I remember buzzing, but he'd already left the door open for me. I walk in and I'm like, 'King, where are you?'" Clarke wrote in the Herald Sun.
"And he's in his lounge room, inside his own personal solarium with the goggles and Speedos on and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. That was Warnie."
Like Warne, Clarke found himself on the wrong end of media headlines during his own storybook career, and said Warne was a constant source of comfort and advice.
"I idolised him, I looked up to him and he was the superstar of the sport I adored," he continued.
"But from the day we met, I felt like we were friends. I don't know why he was so open, kind and generous and loving towards me from day one – but he was.
"There wasn't a time I couldn't pick up the phone. There wasn't a time I couldn't cry. There wasn't a time when, whatever it was I needed – he wouldn't drop everything to be my friend.
"That is what makes this so difficult."
Clarke was sleeping at his home in Sydney when he received a call informing him of the news at around 1am on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Clarke said even though Warne died at 52, he "lived a life worth 100 years."
"I think everyone that knows and loves him, we'll be celebrating his life for days, months and years," he said.
Warne's family have accepted the offer of a state funeral from Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.
