Cricket legend Shane Warne took to Twitter to pay his respects to Rod Marsh just hours before he died in Thailand on Friday. Warne tragically passed away after suffering a suspected heart attack at the age of 52.
“Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” read a statement from Warne’s management company on Friday.
“The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course.”
On the same day at 1.53am, Warne had posted his final tweet.
“Sad to hear the news that Rod Marsh has passed,” Warne wrote.
“He was a legend of our great game & an inspiration to so many young boys & girls.
“Rod cared deeply about cricket & gave so much – especially to Australia & England players. Sending lots & lots of love to Ros & the family. RIP mate.”
Warne’s death has been met with disbelief from the sporting world.
He was one of the biggest stars to have come out of Australian cricket and was an instantly-recognisable figure among the sport’s fans.
On the field, the leg spinner took 708 Test wickets in 145 matches during an illustrious 15-year career. Only Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan has ever taken more, with 800.
He bowled the ball of the century with his maiden ball of the 1993 Ashes as his delivery to Mike Gatting turned from well outside the leg stump to hit the off bail.
During his career, he was never far from the headlines off the field and was banned from the sport in 2003 after taking a prohibited substance, which he blamed on his mother giving him diuretics to improve his appearance.
And he was regularly in the spotlight away from cricket as well due to his larger than life personality.
After splitting from the mother of his children Simone Callahan in 2005, Warne later started dating actress Liz Hurley and the pair got engaged in 2010 before bringing their romance to an end three years later.
Following the news of Warne’s death, the tributes have been pouring in, with former Ashes adversary Steve Harmison paying his respects on talkSPORT.
“I got to know Warney as a friend,” the former England bowler said. “He’s the greatest cricketer I’ve ever seen, the best in the modern generation.
“The thing about Shane was he was such a competitor on the field, but he was so respectful of the game – when you did well he’d shake your hand.
“That was the man. That was Shane Warne.”