In a stage show of tears and laughter, Shane Warne's immortality was confirmed

If you're lucky and grow up in Victoria, there's a good chance you'll fall in love with sport.

From then on, you start going to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to witness moments that become your most cherished memories.

Anzac Day football games. Grand finals. Boxing Day test matches. Shane Warne's hat trick. The day Warnie bowled Richie Richardson with a flipper. His 700th wicket.

This occasion was different, yet it was still about Warne.

By comparison, the state memorial service was less like a sporting event than the Sound Relief concert held in 2009 to raise money for people devastated by the Black Saturday bushfires.

That was the day Kings of Leon sang Revelry and a grieving city danced in rain so heavy and lovely as to feel like a mistake.

From the high school cricket scorer to the artist who painted his portrait, Shane Warne had a magical way of making those around him feel loved. As Australia says goodbye to the champ, his oldest friends share their stories.

It felt like we should be together for the sadness, disbelief, and music.

Like last night.

During the aftermath of the bushfires, Shane Warne donated his baggy green cap for auction. It raised a million bucks.

The cricketer also visited the blackened town of Kinglake.

"[He was] brightening up their lives just a little bit in those dark days," Warne's father Keith told the public service.

Mr Warne was reading his speech.

«Looking forward to a future without Shane is inconceivable,» he said.

«Shane loved life and lived for sport. He was a person who could make everybody feel very special.

»You were taken too soon, and our hearts are broken. Rest in peace, mate. Love ya. Mum and Dad."

Famous musicians sent videos to be played on the large screens.

«He loved to play cricket and he