Great Southern Stand to be renamed to honour Shane Warne
The MCG’s Great Southern Stand will be renamed the S.K. Warne Stand to pay tribute to the cricket legend following his shock passing.
Regarded as one of Australia’s greatest ever cricketers, Shane Warne died of a suspected heart attack while on holiday in Thailand, at just 52 years of age.
Victorian sports minister Martin Pakula made the announcement on Saturday that the grandstand will be renamed as soon as possible.
“I don’t want to talk through the [renaming] process other than to say I had a conversation with Dan a couple of hours ago and he’s exchanged messages with Shane’s brother and whilst there might be a technical process that would normally be gone through, sometimes you need to dispense with that,” Pakula said.
“You need to respond in the way that I think the whole community would think is appropriate.”
The 45,000-capacity southern stand is in line for a rebuild within the next decade as part of a potential $1 billion redevelopment of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, however Warne’s name would remain in place for any new facility that takes its place.
We are shocked and saddened by the passing of Shane Warne.
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) March 4, 2022
A true cricketing genius.
Our thoughts are with his family, friends and fans all across the world. pic.twitter.com/7V4iMxVx4i
As a Victorian, the MCG was Warne’s home ground and the king of spin had many memorable moments at the iconic ground, including a hat trick and taking his 700th wicket.
In 2007, there was a push from the St Kilda Cricket Club to rename the Junction Oval as the Shane Warne Oval, however the change never occurred. Now the home of Cricket Victoria, the venue is commercially known as the CitiPower Centre.
Warne started playing in 1987 for the St Kilda Cricket Club's fourth XI, and made his first-class cricket debut at the Junction Oval, playing for Victoria in 1991.
Tributes have flown in from all corners of the globe for Warne, extending well beyond the cricket world, showing what a popular figure he was.
