By Lidia Kelly
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Shane Warne’s family has been “shattered” by the sudden death of the Australian cricket great, and his children are in “complete shock,” his long-time manager, James Erskine, said on Sunday.
One of the finest bowlers of all time whose talent and personality transcended cricket, Warne died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 52 on Friday, a day after arriving on Thailand’s island of Koh Samui for a vacation.
“The three children are in a complete shock,” Erskine told the Nine Network’s Today morning show on Sunday. “I spoke to them yesterday and … Jackson just said, ‘We expect him to walk in the door. This is like a bad dream’.”
Warne had Jackson, Summer and Brooke with Simone Callahan, to whom he was married for 10 years until they divorced in 2005.
Thai police said Warne experienced chest pains before his death and had asthma and some heart issues. They were not treating his death as suspicious.
“Keith, Shane’s father, is a pretty strong individual, but like everybody, he’s just shattered, they can’t believe what’s happened,” Erskine said.
Thai police interviewed Warne’s travel companions for information and said Warne’s body was to be transferred on Sunday to Surat Thani on the mainland for autopsy.
“We really just want to get Shane home,” said Andrew Neophitou, one of the friends who were vacationing with him, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. “That’s all we want to do.”
Credited with reviving the art of leg spin, Warne made his test debut in 1992 against India, kicking off a 15-year international career.
Warne was rated as one of the five greatest players of the 20th century by Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, but the wily spinner’s hard living often made tabloid headlines as well.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Editing by William Mallard)
