Australia and South Africa in beautiful move to honour Shane Warne
Australia and South Africa will honour Shane Warne in beautiful fashion when the Boxing Day Test kicks off at the MCG next Monday. The clash will mark the first Test at Warne's beloved MCG since has tragic death in March at the age of 52.
Ahead of what will be an emotional affair, Cricket Australia has revealed how Warne will be honoured in front of his adoring home fans. Warne's love affair with the MCG and Boxing Day Test were highlighted by his hat-trick in the 1994 Ashes series and taking his 700th wicket at the ground 12 years later.
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He will once again take centre stage this year, with Australia and South Africa players to wear floppy white hats during the national anthems instead of the traditional baggy caps. Warne famously didn't like wearing the baggy green because it gave him a headache, preferring the white floppy hat that protected him from the sun.
Warne's Test cap number 350 will be painted square of the wicket for the duration of the match. At 3.50pm on Boxing Day, a graphic of Warne will be displayed on screens around the ground, while highlights packages will be rolled out throughout the match.
Fans are also being encouraged to wear a floppy hat and slap on some of Warne's trademark zinc cream when attending the second Test of the series. CA chief executive Nick Hockley said on Monday: "Shane is an icon to cricket fans globally for the greatness of his cricketing achievements, his charisma and his infectious enthusiasm for the game.
"His place as a legend of Australian and world sport is assured. Whilst we continue to mourn his passing, it is fitting that we honour Shane at his beloved Boxing Day Test at the MCG. I know I speak for the whole cricket community in saying that our thoughts continue to be with Shane's family and friends and particularly his children Brooke, Jackson and Summer."
Last week Warne was honoured by the Melbourne Stars - his former Big Bash League team - during a match at the MCG. A memorial service held at the ground in March was attended by more than 50,000 people.
Michael Clarke's heartbreaking reveal about Shane Warne
On Friday, Michael Clarke opened up about Warne's infamous feud with Mitchell Starc and revealed the spin legend was actually a huge fan of the fast bowler. Starc joined Warne on Sunday in becoming just the seventh Australian bowler in history to take 300 Test wickets.
Speaking last week, Starc expressed his sadness that he'd never buried the hatchet with Warne. “The disappointing part, or the sad part, is that we never got to have that conversation,” he said.
“I guess we’ll never know (whether it was personal). I don’t know - I never got a phone call to take up that offer (of a beer). Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”
Speaking on Sky Sports radio, Clarke said: “I can tell you now. Warnie liked Starcy. I’m going to reach out to Starcy because I don’t think Starcy realises that Warnie actually loved him. Really liked him, thought he had so many good things about his game.
“Warnie just marked him hard. That’s all. And I tell you, Warnie actually believed at times that him being so hard on him got the best out of him. He thought he was saying it as well to help Starcy.
“I know he was hard on him. He did that with certain players, he’d pick them and wouldn’t let up and Starcy was probably one of those. But I spoke to him about it at the time and he did not have any personal issue with Starcy at all. (He) met him a few times and thought he was absolutely fine."
with AAP
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