Shane Warne will be given a farewell in a state funeral held at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 30.
The Australian cricket legend tragically passed away earlier this month at the age of just 52 after suffering a heart attack while on holiday in Koh Samui, Thailand. Warne's family accepted the offer of a state funeral from Victoria premier Daniel Andrews and millions will be tuning in around the world to pay their respects.
Over 50,000 people are expected to attend the service at the MCG, which is due to start at 7pm local time. The event will also be livestreamed at several cricket grounds around Australia, including the Gabba and the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The memorial service will be shown live on the Sky Sports Cricket channel for those wishing to watch it in the UK. The broadcast is set to begin at 8am and will run until 11:30am.
Warne's close friend Eddie McGuire will host the service and said it would be "one of the great events in the history of this city and this country". McGuire said: "There’ll be tears tomorrow night, there’ll be a lot of laughs as well and a lot of reminiscing, and that’s what’s going to make this a special night."
Several cricketing legends are set to attend, including Nasser Hussain, Glenn McGrath, Allan Border, Ian Botham and Sachin Tendulkar. Celebrities like Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Kylie and Dannii Minogue will also be in attendance.
There will be musical performances from several of Warne's friends, including Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Robbie Williams and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. The service will also see the official unveiling of the Shane Warne Stand at the MCG, after it was announced that the Great Southern Stand would be renamed in honour of Warne.
A private funeral was held a few weeks ago at the St Kilda football club, with Warne's friends and family saying their goodbyes. Former St Kilda AFL star Aaron Hamill was a close friend of Warne and said the service would be the kind of "shindig [that] would be right up his alley".
"He was so rapt to get a statue [at the MCG], let alone a stand in his honour – he never would have thought in his wildest dreams that would take place," Hamill said. "He’d certainly be sitting up there with probably a dart in the hand and he’d be very grateful."
