The Great Southern Stand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is all set to be renamed as the 'SK Warne Stand' following the sudden passing of Australian cricket legend Shane Warne, aged 52, on March 4.
On Saturday, March 5, Victorian Sports Minister Martin Pakula announced that the Great Southern Stand at the MCG would be renamed after the SK Warne Stand as soon as possible.
The entire cricketing world is in a state of shock at the loss of a true cricketing genius like Warne. The legendary spinner passed away after a suspected heart attack while he was on holiday in Thailand on Friday. Ever since the news of Warne’s sudden demise broke, the entire world has been expressing emotions and paying tributes to the spin wizard on social media.
Victoria's minister for tourism and sport, Martin Pakula, confirmed that he had consulted with Victoria premier Daniel Andrews, MCC Trust chairman Steve Bracks, and MCC CEO Stuart Fox, and they all decided to honor Warne by renaming the Southern Stand in his honor.
As reported by Sydney Morning Herald, Pakula said: “We will be renaming the Great Southern Stand the S.K. Warne stand and we'll be doing that as soon as we possibly can. I can think of no finer tribute to the greatest cricketer this state has produced than to rename the stand the S.K. Warne stand and no matter whatever happens to that stand in the future whether it's rebuilt, refurbished, renovated, it will remain the S.K. Warne stand in perpetuity because his legend will live in perpetuity.”
He concluded, “I don't want to talk through talk about 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 they might be a technical process that would normally be gone through, sometimes you need to dispense with that. You need to respond in the way that I think the whole community would think is appropriate.”
(With ANI Inputs)
