‘Rest in peace, King’: Australia cricketers, leaders and fans mourn death of Shane Warne

The death of Shane Keith Warne – leg-spinner and larrikin, legend and lair – at the age of just 52 has left a nation in mourning.

Australians woke to the scarcely believable news that the cricketer, a man who had, for many, come to embody the rarely realised national ideal of the irreverent, unafraid maverick, had died of a suspected heart attack.

The tributes were led by teammates and friends, along with those he tormented with his vast, dazzling array of legbreaks, zooters, flippers and the occasional straight one. But the repercussions of the end of his vast, short life were felt far beyond the cricketing world.

The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, said Australians had woken “in shock and sadness to the awful news” of Warne’s death, describing him as “one of our greatest cricketers of all time, one of only a few that could approach the extraordinary achievements of the great Don Bradman”.

“His achievements were the product of his talent, discipline and passion for the game he loved.

“But Shane was more than this to Australians. He was one of our nation’s greatest characters. His humour, his passion, his irreverence, his approachability ensured he was loved by all.

“There was none like Shane.”

The premier of Warne’s home state of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, said he “didn’t just inspire a cricketing generation – he defined it”. Andrews has offered Warne’s family a state funeral for the cricketer, and announced the Melbourne Cricket Ground’s Great Southern Stand would be renamed – in perpetuity – the SK Warne Stand.

Rest in peace, Warnie pic.twitter.com/fHyno14ybp

“We are all numbed by the news,” Australian captain Pat Cummins said from Pakistan. “Shane was a once-in-a-century cricketer and his achievements will