West Indies and England cricketers observe a minute of silence in the wake of Shane Warne's death
West Indies and England cricketers in the Caribbean followed a minute of silence to honor former Australian great Shane Warne. The Victorian, aged 52, shockingly passed away on Friday in Thailand, reportedly due to a heart attack.
The likes of Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton and Paul Collingwood were seen standing in the dugout and observing silence in the wake of Warne's passing. The former leg-spinner's death has devastated the cricketing fraternity.
Some of the reputed names who have expressed their sadness on social media are Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shahid Afridi, Babar Azam, Sachin Tendulkar and many more. The statement regarding Warne's death, as quoted by Fox Cricket read:
"Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived. The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course."
Warne's international career spanned over 15 years after he made his debut in 1992. Although Warne's debut was uneventful, the late cricketer grew in stature and headlined Australia's dominance across versions. His 708 Test wickets at 25.41 are the second-highest in the format, next to Muttiah Muralitharan's 800.
The Australian legend was more than a handy batter, scoring 3154 Test runs with 12 half-centuries. Furthermore, Warne was part of the Hampshire County Cricket Club for a long time and captained it.
He notably led the Rajasthan Royals to the IPL title in the inaugural edition in 2008 and took 19 wickets in 15 games at 21.26. It was a sad day for Australian cricket already as former keeper-batter Rodney Marsh died in an Adelaide hospital earlier on Friday.
England on top in practice match against the West Indies President's XI
Jonny Bairstow hit a fine, unbeaten century on the second day of England's Test warm-up game against a Cricket West Indies President's XI in Antigua 🏏
Meanwhile, the ongoing practice match in Antigua has seen England take pole position against the opposition. They bowled out the West Indies President's XI for 264 following their declaration for a total of 466-6. The England innings was spearheaded by Jonny Bairstow's hundred.
The visitors now hold a lead of 279, having lost Alex Lees, Zak Crawley and Ben Stokes. England's three-Test series against the West Indies starts on March 8.