A memorial service to honour the life of Shane Warne will be staged at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 30.
Australia legend Warne died at the age of 52 last Friday after suffering a suspected heart attack while on holiday in his villa on the Thai island of Koh Samui.
Tributes poured in from all over the world for a sporting icon, who took a remarkable 708 Test wickets during a 15-year career – second only to Muttiah Muralitharan.
Warne's family accepted the offer of a state funeral, and Victoria premier Dan Andrews on Wednesday confirmed a service will be held at the cricketer's home ground.
"There's nowhere in the world more appropriate to farewell Warnie than the 'G," Andrews wrote on Twitter.
"Victorians will be able to pay tribute to Shane and his contribution [to] our state, and his sport, at a memorial service at the MCG on the evening of March 30th."
Flowers, cricket shirts, photographs and beer have been left where Warne's statue stands at the MCG.
The Great Southern Stand at the famous ground will be renamed to the S. K. Warne Stand in tribute to the late, great spinner.
Uncapped McSweeney to open for Australia in first India Test
Nathan McSweeney is set to open the batting on his Australia debut in their first Test against India in Perth.
He will open alongside experienced batter Usman Khawaja, while the uncapped Josh Inglis is also included in the 13-man squad.
Australia are seeking a consistent replacement for the retired David Warner, with the 25-year-old being preferred to previous openers Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft.
McSweeney opened for the first time in first-class cricket against India A, and overall, has six centuries.
The first of the five-match Test series against India starts on November 22, with India winning the past four Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Australia squad for first Test v India:
Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc.
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
New Zealand seal historic Test sweep of India
India were whitewashed in a three-match home Test series for the very first time as New Zealand sealed a 25-run victory in the final match at Wankhede on Sunday.
Having given themselves hope of avoiding a 3-0 defeat on day two, India found themselves chasing 145 for victory on a difficult pitch after Ravindra Jadeja had Ajaz Patel (8) caught by Akash Deep.
However, Rishabh Pant’s fine 64 off 57 balls was not enough for the hosts as the wickets tumbled around him, Patel scalping six in the second India innings to take his tally for the match to 11.
India lost four within the first eight overs with Patel taking two, sending stumps flying to account for Shubman Gill then having Sarfaraz Khan caught for one run apiece.
The Mumbai-born seamer finally got Pant’s all-important wicket 22 overs in following a successful review from Tom Latham, and India never looked likely to complete the chase from there.
Glenn Phillips got in on the act with two wickets in two balls to dismiss Ravinchandran Ashwin (8) and Akash (0) before Patel finished things off when his spin ball beat the attempted sweep of Washington Sundar (12).
Data Debrief: Black Caps make history
This is the first time India have lost a Test series 3-0 on home soil in their history, and the first time they have lost three red-ball matches in any single home series since 1983.
They were last blanked on their own turf in the format in a two-match series versus South Africa in 2000.
It is also the first time New Zealand have ever won three Tests in a single series, while Patel now has 25 wickets in two Tests at the Wankhede Stadium – the most by any visiting bowler at a single venue versus India.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
