Shane Warne death anniversary: Adam Gilchrist, Ed Sheeran and Bill Lawry remember cricket legend
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Today marks the one-year anniversary of the passing of Shane Warne, who died of a heart attack while attending a wellness retreat in Thailand in news from which the cricket world has yet to recover.
He was only 52 years old, and the news of his death shocked the world, triggering an enormous surge of grief and love, which still reverberates deeply today.
Adam Gilchrist was one of Warne’s closest friends and paid tribute to his great companion a year after his passing.
‘Still pretty hard to believe, isn’t it?’ Gilchrist said in an interview with ABC Radio.
“A guy we thought was invincible, to think that he’s not just gone, but a year has passed.”
Warne, the late Andrew Symonds celebrates the good times during their time together on the Australian Test cricket team
Warne and Gilchrist pose for a portrait at the Junction Oval and celebrate a wicket in the Australian ODI team
“I think what made so many people [love him] … even though they didn’t know Shane, I think the fact that he was such a character, it almost reflected what every grade cricket club has in their team,” he said.
“They have a guy who works all week, does his job and then goes to training a couple of those nights and then just lives at the weekend to go play cricket with his mates.”
It was that rawness, that feeling that Warne was a real person, warts and all, that endeared him to so many.
Is very real. The fact that he got into some trouble here and there off the field, made it even more real,” Gilchrist said.
‘He wasn’t infallible, he made mistakes like the rest of us.
“I think that’s what made it so attractive to people. Although he was a Hollywood-style status personality, he could still relate, for lack of a better term, to everyday people.
“He would come out of the back of the comment box to have a dart or just sit down and the next thing he knew he was teaching a kid how to twist his legs because an inquisitive parent came up and asked.
‘However, he could also blend in with royalty. He was intriguing and I think everyone felt some level of commitment to him at some point.”
Warne speaks to a group of fans at the tsunami-hit Galle cricket ground. He always had time to mingle with fans from all over the world.
Australian fans show their support for Warne on the second day of the fourth Ashes Test match between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2006
There are so many memorabilia fans of Gilchrist and Aussie Test cricket will never forget, such as the Gatting ball and its 700th Test wicket.
Gilchrist said it was a privilege to be one of only two wicketkeepers, including Ian Healy, to keep the wicket at Warne at Test level.
“It was fascinating,” he said.
“In a Shane Warne installment you could almost sum up his entire personality and character.
“Standing and waiting at the top of his mark, waiting and stopping until he felt that maybe the whole cricket world at the time was zeroing in on him.
‘Starting a mind game and battle with the batsman at the other end.
‘He was ready for a battle. He was a very aggressive guy who liked a challenge.
“If you mention the Gatting ball, I think I held the wicket on 100 or more very, very similar deliveries.”
Former Rajasthan Royals and Australian player Shane Warne talks to children from the Rajasthan Royals British Academy
Another close Warnie associate who shared his stories with the cricket legend was Tom Malone, the former head of Wide World of Sports.
An anecdote Malone shared highlights Warnie’s generous nature, involving the late Kerry Packer, a tour of India and a mobile phone.
“His first contract was not really for money, but Kerry gave him a phone for a tour of India,” Malone said. Ben Fordham on 2GB.
Warnie, as generous as he was, let the whole team use the phone while they were on tour in India.
“So when he came back I think the phone bill was around $50,000 USD. So Kerry said ‘well, you won’t have a phone again, we’ll put you on a salary.’
There was also the brief career of Warnie, the sports newscaster.
“He then asked her to read the 11am news one day in Melbourne for a sports update,” Malone said.
“As Warnie tells the story, Kerry called him the next day right after and said, ‘I think you better stick with the spinners.'”
While Warne’s festive antics were well-reported during his career, there was once a time when the legendary player sacrificed a night on the tiles to help out fellow great and fellow commentator Bill Lawry.
When Channel Nine lost the rights to cricket in 2018, a party was held in Sydney for the end of an era to which all commentators past and present were invited.
“I was flying in from overseas that morning, direct to Melbourne,” Malone said.
‘He turned around quickly and said ‘how’s Bill Lawry doing?’
‘At this point, Bill was 79 or 80 years old and he didn’t talk or move around the country that much.
Bill Lawry and Shane Warne are two of the best Victorians to ever play cricket.
He said, “I’ll take Bill” and went with him, put Bill on the plane, took him from the airport to Channel Nine.
Warnie would have liked to kick, because some of the others kicked long into the night.
‘But Warnie said ‘no, I have to walk Bill back home.’
Once you had Warnie’s trust, you had it for life.
‘The way he took care of people, he was big on manners, big on kindness and generosity.
“He really was an amazing individual.”
Sheeran and Warne were unlikely friends, showing the level of reach the great Australian player had.
Summer, Brooke and Jackson Warne met Sheeran on his Australian tour and the singer paid tribute to his father at his MCG concert.
During his first concert in Melbourne on Thursday night, Ed Sheeran honored his friend Shane Warne by performing The A-Team in front of a crowd of 100,000 at the MCG.
Sheeran acknowledged Warne’s absence and commented that the place was special to him, before dedicating the song to “Shane and his sons”.
“To be at the MCG tonight and not have my friend Shane Warne here to see this… I know this place was very, very special to him,” Sheeran said.
Warne’s children Brooke, Jackson and Summer were in attendance at the concert, and Brooke shared the performance on her Instagram and expressed her love for Ed and her late father.
“I love you Ed and I miss you dad,” she posted.