Lord’s Salutes late great Shane Warne

TIL Desk Sports/ Lord’s rose as one to pay tribute to the late great Shane Warne on day one of the first Test between England and New Zealand. Warne passed away in Thailand in March, with the opening Test of the English summer seeing the former leg-spinner’s life and career remembered.

Warne wore the No 23 shirt during his playing days, in honour of his childhood hero, Australian rules footballer Dermott Brereton, and the Lord’s tribute commenced after 23 overs had been bowled. On a day of tributes to a man who took 708 wickets in 145 Tests, players of both teams lined side by side and the capacity crowd at the venue stood up as one before breaking into a 23-second applause.

Earlier, the main commentary box at the Lord’s media centre was renamed after Warne. ‘To have a commentary box named after you at Lord’s, where you tried to beat the old enemy, is a huge honour,’ former Australia captain Mark Taylor noted on Sky Sports.