The sports world is in mourning following the death of legendary former cricketer Shane Warne at the age of 52.
On Friday, Shane’s management team announced the news of his death following a suspected heart attack at his villa in Thailand.
They confirmed: “Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,”
“The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course.”
Since the news broke, his peers from the cricket world have been paying their respects on social media, hailing the late record-breaking player as a “hero”, “absolute legend” and “champion of our game”
Other public figures – including fellow sportsmen and Australian celebrities – have also shared tributes:
Shane, who began his professional cricket career in the early 90s, went on to be considered one of the greats of the sport, and is credited with “reviving the art of leg-spin”.
Over the course of his career, he set the record for most Test wickets taken by any bowler with 708, though this was later bested by fellow spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in 2007.
At the 1999 cricket World Cup, Shane was the joint-leading wicket-taker as Australia won the tournament, and finished with 293 one-day dismissals in 194 matches.
He ended his international cricket career in 2007, before retiring from cricket completely in 2013, the same year he was inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Cricket Hall Of Fame.
Following his retirement, he worked as a cricket commentator in both Australia and the UK, as well as briefly serving as a guest captain on the BBC panel show A Question Of Sport.
Shane was embroiled in several scandals during his time as a professional sportsman, including a one-year ban from organised cricket after he tested positive for banned diuretic.
Outside of the cricket world, he briefly presented his own chat show, Warnie, in his native Australia, and portrayed a Shane Warne impersonator in the cult sitcom Kath & Kim in 2007.
He also appeared on the Australian version of the reality show I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! in 2016.
