UPDATED: Cricket fan Jason Clarke broke down in tears as he laid flowers below the statue of cricketer Shane Warne, outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday afternoon.
Warne, who died in Thailand aged 52 of an apparent heart attack, was “a legend”, Mr Clarke said.
Jason Clarke pays his respects at Shane Warne’s statue at the MCG on Sunday.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
Mr Clarke and his wife Andrea, 51, made a special trip to pay their respects at the ’G where Mr Clarke had watched Warne’s rise from being a promising leg spin bowler in the early 1990s to an international star.
“I just knew I had to go there,” said Mr Clarke.
“He’s an absolute idol of mine.”
Mr Clarke, 44, of Tarneit, in Melbourne’s west, said he was shocked and devastated to hear the news, when he woke up on Saturday morning, of the death of Warne, who was his idol for over 30 years.
“I’m actually in shock, still.”
One of Mr Clarke’s happiest memories was watching Warne take his 700th wicket at the Boxing Day test at the MCG, in front of 90,000 fans.
But Mr Clarke also used to pay to watch Warne bowl for Victoria in interstate matches.
“No one is ever going to beat him,” Mr Clarke said, adding that he was sad that Warne can no longer pass on his skills to young people such as his six-year-old nephew.
“Now that Shane’s passed, we have to teach him about how good he was.
“If you were in a losing position, he could turn a game on a dime, on all decks – hard, soft, whether in India, Pakistan, or Australia – he could just turn the ball, and his accuracy was sensational. He was absolutely brilliant.”
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