Family to farewell Warnie with Eddie
SHANE Warne’s funeral will be led by Eddie McGuire, as the cricketer’s closest family and friends gather to farewell him.
McGuire will guide the private family service, which will be attended by up to 80 people on Sunday morning.
Warne’s family and some close friends will deliver eulogies for the leg-spinner, whose death during a trip to Thailand stunned the world.
Final preparations were being discussed on Saturday night with Warne’s parents, Keith and Brigitte, and children Brooke, 24, Jackson, 22, and Summer, 20.
A source close to the family said: “The family has been touched by all the love and support they have received from around the world.”
The private service comes before a state memorial at the MCG on March 30, where up to 50,000 people are expected to attend.
New details have emerged about the public memorial. Greta Bradman, granddaughter of Sir Donald Bradman, will sing the national anthem.
Coldplay’s Chris Martin will send a musical tribute. Sir Elton John and Ed Sheeran will also send messages.
Tickets for the public memorial are likely to be available as early as Tuesday, with the Victorian government to make formal announcements.
Warne’s funeral on Sunday will include moving and poignant pictures of the cricketer’s life. The family has requested the service remain private, however there will be an outdoor element of the funeral that they will allow to be filmed.
The guest list includes some of Melbourne’s biggest names.
Warne’s links to Crown casino were also reflected in the invites. James Packer, who was also good friends with Warne, was invited but is unable to attend. Lloyd Williams, who opened Crown in the 1990s, has confirmed he will be at the funeral.
Warne and then fiancee Liz Hurley visited Williams’ stables.
“My great friend Lloyd Williams’ Macedon Lodge must be the best racing sta
bles in the world, absolutely amazing,” he said in 2012.
Warne, who loved a punt, also backed Rekindling – one of Williams’ seven Melbourne Cup winners – collecting $20,000 on a series of bets on the roughie.
AFL great Sam Newman, a close friend, with both living at times in Brighton, a bayside suburb in Melbourne, will also attend.
“I’m going and I’m humbled to be invited. Like all funerals, I think it’s going to be a sombre affair and emotional,” Newman said.
“This was extremely shocking to everyone who knew of Shane and to those that knew him well.”
Warne’s close-knit friendship circle and poker-playing crew including Aaron Hamill, Steven Baker, Luke Tunnecliffe, Tony Hachem and Dimitri Mascarenhas will also be in attendance.
The cricket world will be well represented, with Darren Berry, Glenn Maxwell, Glenn McGrath, Michael Clarke, Mark Taylor and former English captain Michael Vaughan expected to attend.
Warne’s friends from his beloved Saints, Brendon Goddard, Nick Riewoldt and president Andrew Bassat, are also due to be there.
Victorian wicketkeeper Berry often teamed up with Warne when they played together for the state.
“Darren Berry up to the stumps has probably been the best keeper that I’ve ever seen in my time . . . I really wish he did get the opportunity to show how good a keeper he was, with a baggy green cap playing for Australia,” Warne had said.