With Australia set to host Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), late great Shane Warne will be honoured at the iconic venue by offering free heart tests. The fans travelling to the MCG have been urged to wear floppy hats to honour the former spin-bowling wizard.
The Victorian tragically passed away on March 4th, 2022 in Thailand due to heart attack, aged 52. The cricketing fraternity, including the likes of Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and many more mourned his death. With heart disease a significant cause for people's death, the country has been taking it quite seriously.
Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley addressed the occasion and said, as quoted by nine.com.au:
"Shane is greatly missed here in Australia and around the world, and we are grateful to the Shane Warne Legacy and the Warne family in partnering with us to help make a positive difference in his honour."
Notably, MCG provided a tribute to the 145-Test veteran during the Boxing Day Test last year against South Africa as the game was paused shortly on day 1 to display a brief highlights package.
Perth to host the 1st Test against Pakistan:
Meanwhile, the venue responsible for staging the 1st Test against Pakistan will be the Optus Stadium in Perth, with Australia starting as firm favourites. Pakistan geared up for the opening game with a practice match against the Prime Minister's XI as captain Shan Masood scored a double-hundred.
Australia squad for 1st Test: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Lance Morris, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner.
Pakistan Test squad: Shan Masood (capt), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Agha Salman, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi.
