The legacy of Australian cricket legend Shane Warne lived on at the MCG on Monday, as crowds descended on the leg-spinner’s favourite ground for the first day of the Boxing Day Test.
Monday marked the beginning of the first Boxing Day Test since Warne died in March, with players and fans leading tributes to the King of Spin.
Players from both teams and spectators braved the heat and wore wide-brimmed white hats and zinc cream to pay tribute to Warne (who was famous for donning both in the field) while watching Australia take on South Africa.
“Warnie 350”, the cricket legend’s Test cap number, was written on the grass at the MCG, where he now has the former Great Southern Stand named in his honour.
At 3.50pm, the crowd stood, applauded Warne and chanted “Warnie”.
Before the match started, Cricket Australia paid tribute to Warne, extending sympathies to anyone grieving his death.
A montage played on the screens at the MCG, while Coldplay’s Yellow rang throughout the stadium. Warne was close friends with Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin.
The crowd started cheering “Warnie” as the tribute came to an end, and then applause erupted.
Warne’s son speaks
Warne’s son, Jackson, paid tribute to his late father during the tea break, talking to Fox Cricket.
“I think being the reason someone does something positive in their lives, whether they started cricket because they wanted to bowl leg-spin [or] they watch the cricket [and] just seeing the amount of people he’s affected around the world bowling leg-spin. How [he has] impacted real people’s lives doing real things,” Jackson Warne said.
“I want to just want to say thank you to everyone that’s doing that [sending tributes] and to everyone that’s also without a father or a sister or brother. You’re going to be OK and just thank you and keep going. Don’t go down a dark path, exercise, drink water and stay healthy.”
Mr Warne said he was delighted that his dad was being remembered as an amazing cricket player, and also a father and a best friend.
“To see that since the memorial, everybody sees the same Shane I saw, which was the father and the great dad. Everyone saw Shane on the field and you know that could be leg-spinner, could be off field, whatever it is … [he] was the greatest father ever and my best friend.”
Award to be given in Shane Warne’s name
Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association announced during the first session that the men’s Test award will now be in Warne’s name.
“As one of Australia’s all-time greats, it is fitting we acknowledge Shane’s extraordinary contribution to Test cricket by naming this award in his honour in perpetuity,” CA chief executive Nick Hockley said.
“Shane was a proud advocate of Test cricket and you only have to look around at all the fans who came out to the MCG in their floppy hats and zinc on Boxing Day to realise what a profound impact he had on the game.”
Warne played 145 Tests between 1992 and 2007, and his 708 Test wickets was the highest total taken until he was passed by Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.
He took his 700th wicket on the MCG against England.
He was honoured as one of Wisden‘s five cricketers of the 20th century. Also significantly, Warne was the only one of the five players not to be knighted.
He was a much-loved larrikin who never captained the Test team, despite being its best player for many years.
Warne’s brother hopes for more big moments
For those closest to Warne, this year was the first they celebrated Christmas without him.
On Sunrise, Warne’s brother, Jason, said Christmas was a “little different” this year.
“It’s just another one of those firsts that everyone needs to work through when they lose someone and it’s just getting used to the new normal,” he said.
“You know, you’d prefer it to be the way it was, but you can’t do anything about it now.”
Mr Warne said the tributes from all over the world since his brother’s death in March had been “amazing”, adding each one was “hugely appreciated” by the family.
Mr Warne reflected on how much the cricket legend loved the Boxing Day Test match.
Even before Warne went on to play for Australia, he and Jason would watch the cricket at the MCG.
Mr Warne said he remembered going to a match with his brother back in the 1980s and together they sat in the outer.
“Hopefully there’s a lot more big moments on that ground in front of his name, now that he can’t be a part of creating them himself,” Jason said.
