Shane Warne's state memorial service

As the night draws to a close, the Great Southern Stand is officially renamed the Shane Warne Stand - unveiled by his children. Chants of "Warnie, Warnie" ring around.

It's been a sad, special, beautiful and memorable evening in memory of Shane Warne. A very fitting way to say farewell. I'll wrap up this live coverage of the event. Thank you for joining us. RIP, Warnie. Thanks for all the memories.

Eddie McGuire asks everyone to get their phone lights out for the final song from Anthony Callea

Shane Warne's children - Summer, Brooke and Jackson - now take the stage as Summer of 69 plays.

Summer Warne "I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that you won’t be able to walk down the aisle on my special day. You’re [not] going to meet your grandchildren that you’re going to have some day, but instead you will be someone I will tell my kids about and how much of an amazing father you were to me."

Brooke Warne "We were both so stubborn and never wanted to back down. We had our differences, but the end of the day, we just wanted to love each other and we did. So much. I wanted the best for Dad and he wanted the best for me. My Dad just wanted to be the best Dad he could be...We’re going to do what you always told us - try our best and we will try our best to live in a world without you. I love you always, Dad."

Jackson Warne “In one of the first games of cricket I ever played, you told me, “Just go out there and have fun because when you’re happy, good things will happen.” So that was the mindset I had for that game. I ended up taking a hat-trick and that’s a memory I will never forget.”

We are now hearing from more family members. Firstly, his brother Jason

"It’s been pretty good, hasn’t it? The impact my brother had during his remarkable life, it’s always been really difficult to comprehend. Although the last few weeks and the tributes and tonight has brought it all into sharp focus. Shane has connected with us all in many ways."

"He was the best brother I could ask for. He was my mate, he made me a better person."

Jason also had extraordinary belief in what his brother would go on to achieve, as shown by this letter he wrote him after his 7 for 52 at the MCG.

A special record performance of Angels is now on the big screens after a tribute from Robbie Williams

One of the pieces produced earlier this month where Osman Samiuddin looks back at some of Shane Warne's magic

"That theatre is essential. That walk back to his mark, the occasional pause to fix the field or to let doubts fester in the batter, to make them think something is amiss when nothing is. Then the amble in, so utterly lacking in foreboding it was as if Jaws was coming to shore to the title music of Finding Nemo. Then there were the traps, with ball but also with manner. The appeals, the gradual massaging of an umpire into his decision; the bluff of the oohs and aahs and smirks and sneers when he beat a bat, but especially when he found the middle of one. As much as Warne's wickets, everything before and around them is the eulogy."

Andy Lee now hosts a panel with Dimitri Mascarenhas, Aaron Hamill, Glenn Robbins and Sam Newman to reflect on Shane Warne as a friend, behind the scenes and the cricket pitch. One of the many stories is his appearance on sitcom Kath and Kim

This time led by Jon Stevens with some classics. People getting their phone lights out in the crowd.

The next video segment, voiced by Ray Martin, reflects on Shane Warne's charity work including around the 2005 Boxing Day tsunami. The soundtrack has been specially created by Chris Martin from Coldplay.

Andrea Egan of the United Nations Development Programme speaks about Shane's involvement in the Lion Share programme and announces a grant that will take his name.

Mark Howard, Shane Warne's friend and fellow broadcaster, now hosts a panel of cricket stars: Mark Taylor, Allan Border, Merv Hughes, Nasser Hussain and Brian Lara.

Mark Taylor recounts the 1998 tour of India when the head-to-head between Warne and Sachin Tendulkar took top billing.

"I can remember that 1998 tour. We went to India to play three Test matches and there were a lot of reports about Sachin doing extra work about facing Shane Warne. So when we go over there I said to Warnie, 'Right whenever Sachin comes out to bat you're on straight away. He's obviously thinking about you.' First game we played at Mumbai and Sachin played for Mumbai against us in a lead-up game which surprised us. I brought Warnie on and I think Sachin made about 180. He smashed Warnie all over the park. Warnie to be fair, I don't say he was giving his absolute best.

"So we then get to the first Test at Chennai and we've got India 2 for 60 or something like that. Sachin comes out. I said, 'Warnie you're on next over.' First ball, Sachin went down the pitch and hit Warnie back over his head for four. I thought that's not a good start. Two balls later Warnie tossed it up as he did, a bit higher, a bit wider, Sachin went down the deck, went to hit him over cover, edged it straight to me at first slip. Out, out for four. And Warnie and I got together and high-fived and carried on and thought we've got him. We've got his number. Second innings comes around and India are 2 for not many, out comes Sachin again and I said, 'Righto Warnie you're on.' Once again first ball Sachin goes bang back over his head for four. Warnie says, 'I'll go round the wicket, make it a bit harder for him. I'll bowl it in the footmarks which had been created outside his leg stump.' I think the next ball went inside out over mid-off for four. And then the third or fourth ball of the over, [Sachin] slog-swept him out of the rough for six. I ran up to Warnie at the end of the over and Warnie looked at me and said, 'Hey skip what do we do now?' And I said, 'Warnie now we lose.' Sachin got 155 and we lost.

Another video montage now of memories. Including a clip of Don Bradman saying: '[He's the] best thing that’s happened to cricket for many, many years."

Then vision of the MCG chanting "Warnie, Warnie" as his 700th wicket approached. "They can't catch him," was the famous piece of commentary when he claimed Andrew Strauss.

"I felt before I bowled a ball the opposition were worried about what I could do," he says.

Kylie Minogue and Hugh Jackman are giving tributes over video messages. "He loved life," says Jackman. And now the first musical tribute - a recorded piece from Elton John in the United States with a rendition of Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me

Keith Warne begins by reflecting on March 4, their "darkest day", when Shane passed away.

"It was a day that our son, Shane Keith Warne, was tragically and suddenly taken from us. Our family loss of a loved son, a loving brother to Jason and a devoted father to Brooke, Jackson and Summer.

And the world lost a much-loved cricketing legend whose feats on and off the cricket field will go down in history for all time. Looking forward to a future without Shane is inconceivable. We do take comfort in knowing that Shane packed more in his life of 52 years, five months and 19 days than most people would in two lifetimes."

He added that "Shane loved life and lived for sport"

"We are grateful the world loved our son as we did and are thankful he touched so many lives in so many ways. Of course people will remember Shane in their own way. But for us it will be unconditional love for family and friends. His generosity and loyalty which knew no bounds and the joy he brought to so many people along the way it will forever bring us comfort...

"In Shane's typical humble manner, the Aussie boy from Blackrock said it himself “I smoked, I drank, and I played a little cricket.” Mate, your mother and I can’t imagine a life without you. You have been taken too soon and our hearts are broken. Thank you for all you did for us. And for being such a loving and caring son. Rest in peace, mate. Love you, Mum and Dad."

Eric Bana narrates the story of Shane Warne moving from his first love - Aussies Rules - when he was told he was not good enough to then giving cricket a go. And now we hear from Shane Warne's father, Keith.

Following the welcome to country, master of ceremonies Eddie McGuire begins the memorial by walking up a cricket pitch which has been laid out in the middle of the MCG. Greta Bradman then sings the national anthem

The crowd is steadily growing at the MCG while the family, friends and VIPs fill the centre of the ground while highlights of Shane Warne's career play on the big screen. The event is due to get underway at 7pm, around 15 minutes from now. Greta Bradman, granddaughter of Don Bradman, will sing the national anthem.

Shane Warne created memorable, match-changing and match-winning moments almost everywhere he went, but the MCG was home and it was the sight of some major occasions in his career.

7 for 52 v West Indies, 1992:

One of the early breakthrough performances of Warne’s career, his first match-winning performance on home soil, as he ran through West Indies’ second innings. The flipper to remove Richie Richardson was a stunning delivery.

Ashes hat-trick, 1994:

Warne had done the major damage in England’s first innings with figures of 6 for 64, but it was in the second where he wrote himself a piece of history.

700th wicket, 2006:

Boxing Day. The MCG. Who wrote Warne’s scripts? Having confirmed his retirement from Test cricket, Warne produced a beautiful leg-break to spin back through Andrew Strauss and take him to 700 Test wickets. "There are some special days that happen in your life and some special things that happen and that is definitely one of them," he said. "The birth of your children, getting married, playing your first Test, they're pretty special. From an individual point of view that's got to be one of the best days I've ever had."

In 2020, ESPNcricinfo undertook the task of choosing the balls of the century. Shane Warne featured twice in the top 10

"Warne's last ball instead offers something else. It is released from outside off, lands on a good length just outside leg and does its Warney thing. Slow down the YouTube clip to its maximum and you see that on landing, the ball still bites, leaps and zips across Laxman. The stumps shake, the bails jump - four seconds from the time Warne began his run-up to Laxman's head turning around to discover debris."

"He rips the break so hard you can almost hear seam scything through air (you can definitely hear the grunt). He gives it a bit more air than the previous one and yet, with so much action on it, it is a good 4mph quicker. But it is wide of off stump, so far wide that Strauss responds like a man perplexed to have been asked to deal with it."

This is a piece by Gideon Haigh from 2010:

"Warne was an extraordinary bowler. It can't really be said often enough. He will personify legbreak bowling for as long as the skill exists. If and when an outstanding new purveyor achieves note, the question will be: how does he compare with Warne? As fascinating to watch as were Anil Kumble and Mushtaq Ahmed, Warne's was the style to study and emulate - so simple, so unadorned, so apparently artless. So epic were his feats, too, that it is hard to recall legbreak bowling before him."

Some of the world’s best batters who faced Warne offered their reflections on what it was like. First up, Rahul Dravid:

"Warnie changed the whole theatre of Test cricket with his personality, his presence, his performance. He changed the way Test cricket was being watched from the 90s when it was all about watching fast bowlers at a time when a lot of attritional cricket was on display. Warnie just made legspin and spin bowling more attacking. Not that there were not great spinners before him, but Warnie's growth coincided with the expansion of the influence of television and technology in the game. That brought Warnie to the fore."

Read the full piece here.

Shane Warne, one of Melbourne's biggest personalities, will be given one of the grandest farewells the city has ever seen.

Almost four weeks since the cricket legend's death in Thailand, a memorial service at the MCG on Wednesday will be attended by up to 65,000 people.

It will be a celebration like no other as celebrities and the Victorian public pay tribute to a larger-than-life character who transcended sport.

With 50,000 seats already taken, another 10,000-15,000 tickets have been released to ensure it becomes one of the biggest memorial services in Australian history.

An estimated 300,000 mourners turned out for General Sir John Monash's farewell in 1931, while more than 100,000 people lined the streets of Melbourne for long-serving Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies' funeral in 1978.

But this service will be as unique as Warne himself. A number of international stars, including Elton John, Chris Martin, Robbie Williams and Ed Sheeran will perform remotely, while Australian rocker Jon Stevens will front a band playing some of Warne's favourite INXS and Noiseworks songs.

Iconic Australians Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Kylie and Dannii Minogue, James Packer, Eric Bana, Greg Norman, as well as American surfing legend Kelly Slater, will also pay tribute to arguably the country's greatest-ever cricketer after Don Bradman.

Great mate Aaron Hamill, who played 98 AFL games for Warne's beloved St Kilda, is confident the send-off will capture the larrikin's spirit.

"He'd be bloody shattered he's missed it," Hamill said. "I know that - this sort of shindig would be right up his alley, particularly in Melbourne.

"I know he'd be really humbled, he'd be really proud to get the recognition, he never seeked it but he'd certainly be sitting up there, with probably a dart [cigarette] in hand, and very grateful.

"He often used to talk about seizing the moment and the opportunity and there is no fear within. And that's really how he attacked life."

Four out of Australia's five free-to-air TV networks will broadcast the service, while Fox Sports have dedicated four of their channels to broadcast Warne content in the lead-up to the event.

Warne's three children - Brooke, Summer and Jackson - his father Keith and brother Jason will also speak while the Shane Warne Stand, formerly known as the Great Southern Stand, will be formally unveiled.