There’s 75 minutes before the first ball of the Australia-South Africa Boxing Day Test and a queue has already formed.
And it’s not to get into the MCG.
Fans of all ages and nationalities have gathered around the Shane Warne statue just outside the MCC Members entrance, waiting patiently for the best spot to get the best snap in front of the now iconic piece of art. But everyone is happy to wait their turn, for the atmosphere is buzzing and upbeat – just like Warne, both on and off the field.
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A young couple in their 20s has their turn in front of the statue before tag-teaming with a family of four. Mum, dad and their two boys all have zinc on their noses and lips and all have broad-brimmed floppy hats on.
In fact there are floppy hats everywhere, both inside and outside the venue. Most are Gray Nicholls-branded white, but there’s a young Sri Lankan fan with a blue floppy that stands in front of the statue for a photo.
Three guys then ask this writer to take a photo of them. The statue is so tall you have to take a portrait shot to get all three fans plus Warnie in the frame.
Meanwhile, four young boys in floppies to the right pose in front of the statue for a photograph by a professional ‘snapper’. “Go Warnie,” the quartet shouts out in unison while arm-in-arm.
No matter their age, gender or background, Warnie is still uniting the cricket fans nine months after his shock passing in Thailand.
In a lovely touch inside the venue, the entire South African squad are warming up in white floppy hats in front of the now aptly named Shane Warne Stand. Square of the wicket, ‘WARNIE 350’ has been painted in white across the luscious green turf.
Australian players then all donned white floppies for the official pre-game ceremony, which included a video tribute to Warne accompanied by ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay — the band he had such a strong connection to.
Aunty Joy Murphy performed the Welcome To Country before the anthems: “Today we celebrate also the legendary Shane Warne. To his family and friends, which is each and every one of you here today – what a legend and it is a wonderful opportunity. I have to say this will always be his resting place here on Wurundjeri country.”
Come 9.30am, Fox Cricket’s coverage begins – and the sound-on-tape opener is hauntingly voiced by Warne. It’s a past package Warne featured in to build up hype ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
Former teammate Adam Gilchrist then picked up the coverage.
“Very few people made an impression on the game, not just the cricketing landscape, but in society around Australia like Shane Warne,” Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket.
Warnie introduces the Boxing Day Test | 03:47
“He could mix with royalty, but he could also mix with the common man and woman. Girls and boys around were inspired by his deeds.
“His legacy will live long into the future.”
Warne adored the Boxing Day Test. He loved it more than any other occasion in the cricketing world.
It’s the match in which he broke through on the world stage, capturing a breathtaking haul of 7-52 against the West Indies in 1992 to bowl Australia to victory. Two years later, he took a famous Ashes hat-trick, removing England trio Phil DeFreitas, Darren Gough and Devon Malcolm in three consecutive balls.
Twelve years later against the same opposition, Warne bowled Andrew Strauss to claim his 700th wicket in front of 89,155 fans. Not many wickets taken at the MCG have provoked bigger roars than that Warne special.
“They say Old Trafford is the ‘Theatre of ‘Dreams’ in football terms, but this (the MCG) was just Warnie’s personal theatre. He just loved coming out here and performing.”
Former England player Isa Guha added: “He was the King and this was his playground.”
For such a star player, Warne broke down the barrier between professional cricketer and fan – particularly in his home state of Victoria.
“If you try and analyse why this MCG crowd loved him so much, I think it was because he was out there dealing out his sorcery against the best international batsmen, yet those in the outer thought he could be sitting alongside them, chewing on a burger and out the back having a cheeky ciggy,” former Test leg-spinner Kerry O’Keeffe told Fox Cricket.
“That’s why they related – that one of theirs was out there. They responded with so much love for him.”
The cricket world still can’t quite believe Warne is no longer with us.
But he is immortalised in every sense.
And both inside and outside the MCG on Boxing Day, he was with us – and his legacy continues.
