Family, friends, and fans commemorate Shane Warne: Here are the highlights of the late Australian cricketer’s memorial service
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Family, friends, and fans of late Australian athlete Shane Warne gathered at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to commemorate his memory on Wednesday night.
More than 55,000 people attended the memorial service, with about a billion people tuning in via its live telecast.
Fans looked back at the Aussie icon's most memorable moments, prompting them to experience a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the program.
We streamed the program on Wednesday night and we must admit that we actually sobbed while watching it.
While we cried along with the billions of fans tuning in to the late icon's memorial service, there was one moment when everyone roared in laughter after one of Warne's good friends shared an unexpected story.
Credit: YouTube/9 News Australia
When asked about the late cricketer's fashion choices, Former St Kilda footy player and Warne's good friend Aaron Hamill shared how the Aussie icon's love for "Peaky Blinders-inspired" hats led him to make an unusual request.
“[Shane] said, ‘I’ve got this great idea’, as he always did,” Hamill explained.
He then revealed that Warne actually had sent an email to the producers of Peaky Blinders — a show that follows the life of a gangster family in 1900s England — to inform them of his intent and "keenness" to be on the show.
Hamill said: “So he did all that and he rang back and said, ‘I got the email back’.”
“I said, ‘Please, read it out to me’."
“‘Dear Shane, thanks very much. We love your enthusiasm, but unfortunately, porcelain veneers weren’t around in Birmingham in 1931. But we love your support. Thank you very much.”
“But that’s what he was like,” Hamill continued.
“He was ambitious. He was driven. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
It should be noted that the late athlete was known for wearing old school hats that resemble the hats worn by the characters in Peaky Blinders.
The late cricketer was known for wearing old school hats. Credit: Instagram.
Also present in the panel were some of Warne's closest friends, including cricketer Dimitri Mascarenhas, comedian and actor Glenn Robbins and football star Sam Newman.
“He would be gobsmacked at this,” Newman said of the massive memorial service, attended by thousands and streamed by a billion people.
He jokingly said: “I tell you what, I’m finding it hard to get over, the United Nations are a part of this.”
“I thought that is extraordinary. He’s actually infiltrated the United Nations and they are here. That is staggering.”
A United Nations representative had spoken earlier to commend Warne's contributions to wildlife conservation.
The late cricketer championed The Lion's Share Fund, a platform where businesses and other organisations can direct their donations and other initiatives for wildlife conservation.
The representative presented the "Shane Warne conservation grants" to “memorialise his service and catalyse more action”.
Thousands of fans were in attendance at the memorial service, along with a billion people tuning in via live telecast. Credit: Jason Edwards.
Elsewhere in the program, a heartwarming 30-year-old letter by Warne's brother, Jason, was shared with the world.
MC Eddie McGuire read the letter out loud, prompting audiences (including us) to bawl their eyes out.
The letter read: “Now is the time to put everything, and I mean everything, into it and make it work for you.”
“So, come on, make some more sacrifices and give people the opportunity in 20 years’ time to say remember Shane Warne. We’ll never get another leggie like him. He was the best spinner Australia has ever had.”
Shane Warne's three children — Summer, Jackson, and Brooke — also shared their messages with their father.
Summer shared: “It has been exactly 26 days since you went to heaven and I miss you more than anything in the whole world."
"I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that you won’t be able to walk down the aisle on my special day. You’re not going to meet your grandchildren that you’re going to have someday, but instead, you will be someone I will tell my kids about and how much of an amazing father you were to me. How good of a grandfather you would have made and how they would have loved and adored you just like I do."
The siblings also unveiled the Shane Warne Stand for the very first time, prompting the crowd to cheer for the late athlete.
Were you a fan of Shane Warne? We don’t normally share sports-related news on the SDC, however, we want to include this story on our website because we loved watching him play and he never failed to make us laugh!
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