Emotions spill over as Warne honoured

AS an emotional sea of zinccovered faces and floppy hats filled the MCG in honour of Shane Warne, the legend’s son Jackson had a message for others who had lost a loved one.

“You’re going to be OK. Just keep going.”

Speaking with his own floppy hat on during the tea break, Jackson, 23, reflected on the “outpouring of love and emotion” received alongside sisters Brooke and Summer since their father’s shock death in Thailand in March.

He called on others suffering from loss to push on and keep positive.

“Especially yesterday after Christmas Day, it’s sort of the first for everything (without a family member) which is difficult for people who have lost someone,” Jackson told Adam Gilchrist, Warne’s former teammate, on Fox. “I don’t feel alone, because I wasn’t the only one without a father for this Christmas. To everyone that’s also without a father or a sister or brother, you’re going to be OK. Just keep going, don’t go down a dark path. Exercise, drink water and stay healthy.”

The emotionally-charged day was overwhelmingly a happy one, Jackson said, who spoke moments before the game paused for a standing ovation at 3:50pm – a time chosen in a nod to Warne’s baggy green cap number.

Over a magical minute, spectators waved their floppy hats aloft while a “Warnie” chant rang around the ‘G. The Australians in the field took their caps off and clapped, with the South African batsmen also applauding.

“The happiness outweighs the sadness tenfold,” Jackson said. “To see all the zinc cream on everyone’s faces, to see everyone with the floppy hats is unbelievable.