MCG State Memorial Date Set for March 30

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Warne’s famous singing friends Chris Martin and Ed Sheeran are eager to attend and might perform. Mick Jagger was also touted as a potential entrant.

Mr Andrews said details of the memorial service were still being finalized, including the need to follow all COVID-19 health and safety protocols. He said there would be no limit to the number of people for the service, with the MCG stands able to accommodate more than 100,000 people.

It was unclear whether additional capacity would be allowed on the pitch.

Details on how to apply for tickets will be available soon, Mr Andrews said, adding that the service will also be broadcast live. “It’s going to be a really big event,” he said. “It will be a celebration of his life as it should be.”

The Prime Minister said he hoped Warne’s family had been helped by the public reaction to the player’s death.

“It’s a very difficult time for them,” he said. “I hope it will be made a little easier by the fact that there has been such an outpouring of grief and support. And the farewell memorial will be a very, very important part of that.

Warne manager James Erskine said so many people were keen to volunteer their time and get involved in the celebration, a point reinforced by others close to the Warne family.

“Everyone wants to be involved – who is there, how do we do it? We are mounting a major production in two weeks and doing it with a grieving family,” a source said. “We try to bring the family through as much as possible.”

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It’s unclear if Warne’s former fiancée, actress Liz Hurley will make the trip to Australia.

Hurley reached out to Warne’s daughter, Summer, on Instagram, commenting on one of her posts, “Love you Summer. Your daddy loved you.”

The Victorian Government will officially rename the Great Southern Stand to the MCG as soon as possible, which could be as soon as its farewell celebration, while Cricket Victoria’s plans to rename the Kevin Murray Stand to the Junction Oval in honor of the most Australia’s big test the wicket-taker is ahead of Parks Victoria.

Broadcasting the memorial service will be a collective effort, with each of the broadcasters likely having the ability to station a single film crew inside the site, at designated locations. Footage filmed by each network will be aggregated and mixed live into a single stream for broadcast on each network. The government will also produce its own stream of the event.

At this stage, no network has committed to carrying the service, either in part or in full.

If the service occurs at dusk, the decision whether or not to broadcast the stream could become difficult, as it would mean disrupting normal prime time programming.

While Bert Newton’s memorial service, which took place on a Friday morning last November, was broadcast by all five free-to-air channels and Sky, Michael Gudinski’s memorial service last March – which took the form of a concert – wasn’t, largely because it was a three-hour evening event.

Friends of the cricketing superstar have traveled to the Thai capital to continue repatriation preparations as tributes to the cricketing star continue to pour in.

He also released what he said were police footage, which showed a pack of cigarettes on a headboard and what he claimed were the contents of Warne’s luggage.

the Daily mail did not reveal how he obtained the police footage, which has not been made public.

St Kilda AFL captain Jack Steele has spoken of the lingering sadness at the club after the shock of the star cricketer’s passing.

Warne, who played one game on reserve for the Saints, was desperate to follow his idol Trevor Barker in representing red, white and black.

The former Australian cricket star had written that he was not good enough to succeed.

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“I lacked rhythm and I was scratched from the list at the start of the 1989 season. It was a blow, a real kick in the guts, the end of my childhood dream”, he writes in Shane Warne, my own story.

Steele said the news of Warne’s death in Thailand over the weekend had hit the club hard.

“The whole club was really affected by it. He himself was a great saint.

“It is a sad time for us and the Warne family and we express our condolences. It is sad to see him go.”

Sentimental punters jumped at the chance to back a horse part-owned by Warne on Wednesday, but a fairy tale finish didn’t happen at Ipswich when the jockey fell during the 1,500m race.

Warne had a share in three-year-old colt Sacred Oath trained by David Vandyke, but dreams of a winning finish just days after the cricket champion’s death were dashed when jockey Ryan Maloney and the horse appeared to be shunted and forced into the railing, whereupon Maloney hit the track and fell. Maloney, who wore a black armband in honor of Warne, escaped serious injury.

“Warnie was one of my heroes growing up. I just loved watching Warnie, he was so flamboyant,” Maloney said before the race.

Punters had backed Sacred Oath in a $1.75-$1.30 favoritism with the bookmakers. It was the horse’s second race, having finished second in a 1350m maiden at Doomben last month.

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Warne was one of several prominent names to own the horse, with others including actor Shane Jacobson, media identity Hamish McLachlan and AFL players Luke Ryan, Jake Lloyd, Blake Acres, Trent McKenzie, Joel Hamling, Brennan Cox, Darcy Tucker, Brandon Matera and Michel Walters.

Shane Warne’s ex-wife Simone Callahan paid a heartfelt tribute to him on social media on Tuesday, saying he was cut “too soon” from their children’s lives.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Ms Callahan – who was married to the cricketer for a decade from 1995 – said: “Shane’s greatest love, our children Brooke, Jackson and Summer.”

The post was accompanied by a video and photo montage of the cricketer with his children, including one of his daughter dancing as he played with others in the background with a soccer ball.

“Shane was removed too soon from their young lives,” Ms Callahan wrote.

“Eternal love remains and will never leave.

“Val Shane.”

With Scott Spits, Chris Barrett and Cassandra Morgan

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