The Great Southern Stand at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground is set to be renamed after Shane Warne following the sudden death of the legendary spinner at the age of 52. On Friday, Warne passed away of a suspected heart attack in Thailand.
Warne has some amazing memories at his home ground in Melbourne as he claimed his 700th wicket at the same venue in his farewell series against England. On Boxing Day Test in 2006, Warne got the wicket of Andrew Strauss to reach the milestone. Victoria’s minister for tourism and sport, Martin Pakula, confirmed about renaming the stand.
Shane Warne picked his 700th Test wicket at MCG
“We will be renaming the Great Southern Stand the S.K. Warne stand and we’ll be doing that as soon as we possibly can. I can think of no finer tribute to the greatest cricketer this state has produced than to rename the stand the S.K. Warne stand and no matter whatever happens to that stand in the future whether it’s rebuilt, refurbished, renovated, it will remain the S.K. Warne stand in perpetuity because his legend will live in perpetuity,” Pakula said.
MCG was one of the happy hunting grounds for Warne as he picked 56 wickets in 11 Test matches which included three fifers.
Cricket Australia chairman Dr Lachlan Henderson also confirmed that he had spoken to the Prime Minister as he called it a fitting tribute for one of the greatest spinners.
“That would seem a very appropriate acknowledgement of Shane Warne,” Henderson said. “He’s been an icon of the game, obviously with St Kilda Cricket Club, Victoria, our Australian team for so many years. He also played cricket all around the world. So it’s a very fitting tribute,” Dr Lachlan Henderson said.
“Right here this morning, driving past a junior cricket ground in Victoria, I saw a young leg-spin bowler bowl a beautifully flighted ball that beat the bat and I’m sure someone was looking down on that young bowler as he embarks on his career,” he added.
Shane Warne represented Australia in 145 Tests and 193 ODIs in his 15-year long career spanning from 1992 to 2007. His Test wickets tally of 708 wickets is the second-highest among the leading wicket-takers list. In ODIs, he finished with 293 wickets which included two player-of-the-match performances in the semifinal and final of World Cup 1999.
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