Thank you for the magic, Warnie!

NT Correspondent

S hane Warne, one of the all-time greats of the game, has passed away of a suspected heart attack at the age of 52 in Koh Samui, Thailand, while on holiday, on Friday.

“Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” the family statement said. Thai police did not know the cause of death but were not treating it as suspicious.

Known as “Warnie,” Warne took 708 test wickets in 145 matches for Australia from 1992-2007, second only to Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralitharan’s 800 test wickets from 133 matches.

Warne made his test debut at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1992 against India and rose to become a key fi gure across all formats in one of the greatest sustained periods of dominance by any team in world cricket

He is also the only batsman to have scored more than 3,000 Test runs without a career century and has taken more Ashes wickets than any other Australian. Warne retired from international cricket at the same time as Glenn McGrath, Damien Martyn, and Justin Langer, leading thencaptain Ricky Ponting to declare “the end of an era”

Known affectionately as “Warnie”, the Victorian is regarded as one of the fi nest cricketers in history and was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2013.

He will be remembered for his leadership skills and was instrumental in Rajasthan Royals winning the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League in 2008.

Warne had three children with his former wife Simone Callahan, to who he was married between 1995 and 2005.

Remembering the wizard

Sachin Tendulkar: Shocked, stunned & miserable…Will miss you Warnie. There was never a dull moment with you around, on or off the fi eld. Will always treasure our on fi eld duels & off fi eld banter. You always had a special place for India & Indians had a special place for you. Gone too young!

Brian Lara: And speechless at the moment. I literally don’t know how to sum up this situation. My friend is gone!!We have lost one of the Greatest Sportsmen of all time!!My condolences goes out to his family.RIP Warnie!! You will be missed.

Virat Kohli: Life is so fi ckle and unpredictable. I cannot process the passing of this great of our sport and also a person I got to know off the fi eld. RIP #goat. Greatest to turn the cricket ball.

Graeme Smith: Cannot Believe it, absolutely gutted!

Viv Richards: Unbelievable. I am shocked to the core. This can’t be true... There are no words to describe what I feel right now. A huge loss for cricket.

Virender Sehwag: Cannot believe it. One of the greatest spinners, the man who made spin cool, superstar Shane Warne is no more. Life is very fragile, but this is very diffi cult to fathom. My heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and fans all around the world.

Adam Gilchrist: Numb. The highlight of my cricketing career was to keep wicket to Warnie. Best seat in the house to watch the maestro at work. Have often felt a tad selfi sh, that Heals and I pretty much exclusively are the only ones who had that thrill and pleasure at Test level. Rip Warnie.