Melbourne: Shane Warne’s final innings encapsulated and celebrated an extraordinary life in both the scale and scope of which it had been lived.
Warne, who died 26 days ago while on holiday in Thailand, was eulogised as a family man, a loyal friend, a fierce competitor and one of the purest talents cricket has known in a two-and-half-hour memorial service at the MCG that culminated in the unveiling of a grandstand carrying his name.
In many ways, the celebration of Warne played out like so many of the magical deeds he performed with the ball in hand, many of them on the same turf that served for his farewell.
The stage that hosted still grieving family members, former teammates coming to terms with his passing and musical tributes was fittingly erected in front of the MCG’s cavernous southern grandstand that will carry Warne’s name from now through perpetuity.
It was the same end of the stadium’s central wicket block that Warne was bowling when he claimed an Ashes hat-trick in 1994-95; the same end from which he snared his 700th Test scalp against the same arch-foe 12 years later.
And what is now the Shane Warne Stand incorporates the venue’s former Bay 13 public seating section, where Warne pleaded for calm from unruly fans during one of his handful of matches as Australia captain, in a 1999 ODI also involving England.
The very enclave where Warne, his father Keith and younger brother Jason had attended the final day of the famous 1982 Test match – yes, England again – when his imagination was fired by the prospect of making his mark as a sporting hero.
But not even his wildest dreams, which could be quite extravagant, could the then 12-year-old have imagined the enduring impact he would wield on the ground that will forever be linked to his memory, and which provided the poignant backdrop for his premature passing.
The more than 50,000 family, friends and fans left tonight’s memorial as they often did after a day’s cricket in which Warne had taken centre stage – bedazzled by his genius, smiling at his larrikin everyman-ness, with eyebrows occasionally raised, expectations exceeded and the innate feeling they had been in the presence of someone special.
Only this time Warne was with them in spirit alone, and they departed with an innate sadness instead of a spring in their collective step.
The state memorial – part reflection, part gala variety – was crowned by Warne’s friend and Australian singer Anthony Callea performing ‘The Prayer’ while thousands throughout the MCG shone torch lights from mobile phones as if the middle of the MCG was the centrepoint of a galaxy.
Which was emblematic of Warne’s life, and the way he made so many people intrinsic to it feel.
That was evident throughout the litany of stories regaled by a cavalcade of eminent speakers, who were bookended by heart-rending messages from his father, brother and children Brooke, Jackson and Summer.
Melbourne’s mid-autumn chill, in what is formally the ultimate week Australia’s cricket season, meant only the hardy honoured the request to attend in their preferred summer kit, but among the football scarves and mourning jackets were a scattering of vintage ‘WARNE 23’ replica shirts.
And at least one inflatable boxing kangaroo in Australia’s sporting colours.
Warne’s teammates used to mock-chide the star spinner for his propensity to gravitate to A-list celebrities and the biggest name players in rival line-ups, a cohort they dubbed ‘The Superheroes Club’.
But tonight, those same cricketers shared the stage and their recollections with a remarkable array of household names and sporting luminaries whose sole point of commonality was Warne and his unique capacity to straddle both worlds.
It’s not often star power the calibre of Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Merv Hughes, Nasser Hussain (who had flown in from New Zealand where he is commentating on the ICC Women’s World Cup) and Brian Lara (from India) are outshone at the MCG, but it might have happened tonight.
Among the trove of celebrity guests to pay respects in person or via video tributes played on the stadium’s giant electronic screens were Kylie Minogue, who recalled a day when the leg-spinner and his family turned up to her parents’ house in Melbourne for a barbecue.
“Star quality and charisma … he had it, and he took it everywhere he went,” said Minogue, who knows a thing or two about both those traits.
Hugh Jackman, who might have borrowed his ‘Greatest Showman’ from his close friend, observed that “as a human being, he reminded us to make the most of every single second”.
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