Shane Warne's family moved by response to MCG memorial service

Shane Warne's son Jackson Warne says the MCG is the perfect place to farewell the cricketing great, who died earlier this month.

A state memorial service will be held tonight at the MCG, with more than 50,000 people expected to attend.

An impressive list of stars will appear live or via video link, including Elton John, Robbie Williams, Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe.

Cricket greats including Wasim Akram, Allan Border, Ian Botham and Brian Lara will also take part in the service.

Jackson Warne said it was fitting that the event would be held at the place where his father had created so many memories.

«It's very special to a lot of us, especially our family, we've been lucky enough to come here our whole life and watch him play and put lots of hard work in on this very ground where we're standing,» he said.

«He's got a statue out the front and to have a grandstand named after him now is unbelievable.

»Sad as it is, for all of us to come and sit down at this ground for the rest of our lives and be able to say we're sitting in dad's stand forever is pretty special."

The legendary spinner's father Keith Warne said he had been touched by the number of people who had come forward to pay tribute to his son at the service.

«It’s what he would’ve wanted, to make sure everybody who can be involved is involved and we've been very fortunate to have a state funeral to allow us to do that,» he said.

The gates of the MCG are due to open about 5:30pm for a 7pm start, and the state memorial service is scheduled to run for about two hours.

More than 50,000 tickets have already been nabbed, but another 10,000 spots were released through the MCG website on Wednesday.

Tickets to the event are free.

In recognition of Warne's contributions to the game, his