Melbourne, Australia (CU)_ A private jet carrying the body of the Australian cricketing legend Shane Warne from Bangkok landed at the Melbourne airport late Thursday. The body arrived at the Bangkok airport on Thursday morning to be taken back to Australia for a state funeral. A casket draped in an Australian flag and carrying the 52-year-old cricketer, who died Friday on Thailand’s Koh Samui island, arrived in Don Mueang airport to be flown back to Australia.
According to the Victorian government’s statement, “Warne didn’t just inspire a cricketing generation, he defined it”. In order to honor the great cricketer, the government announced that a state burial would be conducted at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 30. According to the autopsy reports, the leg-spinner, who is regarded as one of the best Test cricketers of all time, died of natural causes following a suspected cardiac arrest.
Warne was last seen on late Friday at a luxurious home on the Thai island of Koh Samui, where he was vacationing, after failing to meet up with pals that evening. He was immediately sent to the Thai International Hospital Samui but was unable to be revived despite medical efforts. On Monday, following the autopsy, the police reported that the death was due to natural causes.
According to Surachate Hakparn, assistant to the national police chief, Warne’s father said, “the player had been suffering chest pains and was planning to return home for a check-up after this trip”. Warne’s parents, brother, children, and ex-wife all expressed tremendous grief in their first public statements since his demise on Friday, paying homage to one of the best cricketing legends of all time and the man they adored.
Shane Warne’s parents Keith and Brigitte Warne expressed their grief in a statement saying, “To find words to adequately express our sadness is an impossible task for us and looking to a future without Shane is inconceivable”. Daughter Summer Warne said, “I miss you so much already. I wish I could’ve hugged you tighter in what I didn’t know were my final moments with you.” She added, “I wish I could’ve told you that everything was going to be OK and hold your hand.”
Scott Morrison, Australia’s prime minister, paid homage to one of the great cricketing legends and greatest characters of the nation. In the weekend, people paid tribute to Warne’s statue outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground, offering cigarettes, beer, and meat pies in memory of an incredible cricketing talent with an insatiable thirst for life. Warne, who is highly appreciated for resurrecting the leg-spin, was a key member of the Australian Test team that was dominating in the 1990s and 2000s and made his country win the 1999 limited-overs World Cup.
