Australian cricket legend Shane Warne dies aged 52
Warne’s management says he died of a suspected heart attack in Koh Samui, Thailand.
Legendary Australian cricketer Shane Warne, widely regarded as the greatest leg-spinner of all time, has died aged 52, according to his management company.
Warne’s management said in a statement on Friday he died in Koh Samui, Thailand, of a suspected heart attack.
“Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” the statement said.
“The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course.”
Thai Police said they were not treating the death as suspicious.
Warne’s associates staying in the same villa tried unsuccessfully to revive him, police added.
Warne is regarded as one of the finest leg-spin bowlers of all time after a test career which spanned from 1992 to 2007.
He took 708 test wickets, a tally surpassed only by Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 800.
He also had 293 wickets from 194 one-day internationals and won the man-of-the-match award when Australia beat Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup final.
Warne was also a handy late-order batsman. Though his test average was only 17.3 he took the role seriously and holds the record for the most test runs (3,154) without a century – his highest score being 99.
It was not all plain sailing, however, and his career was peppered with off-field controversy. He was punished for feeding information to a bookmaker, sending inappropriate text messages, and verbally abusing fellow players.
David Warner
“He elevated the game. He elevated Australia,” he added.
Australian batsman David Warner said he was “lost for words, and this is extremely sad”.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to the Marsh and Warne family. I just can not believe it. RIP, you will both be missed,” he tweeted.
