Former Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds shared a story from his playing days as he remembered the legendary Shane Warne ahead of the State Memorial Service to honor the legendary leg-spinner, who passed away earlier this month following a suspected heart attack. The Thai police had later concluded 52-year-old Warne died of natural causes while on holiday on the resort island of Koh Samui.
Symonds, who had shared the dressing room with Warne for a large part of the former's international career, recalled the time when he found a bag full of cash in Warne's hotel room.
“We were playing a Test match here, I think it was against South Africa in the Boxing Test,” he recounted.
“The third day we were into and I remember walking in and his gear was just all over the floor. He used to have a lot of socks and a lot of boots, and in between all his big woollen cricket socks was this Woolworths bag full of rolled up $100 notes.”
Symonds remembered questioning Warne on why the money had appeared, as he laughed.
“It sort of caught my eye as I went past, just rolls and rolls of money. I said to Warnie, ‘Mate what’s the story here?’. He goes, ‘Oh I had a little win at the casino last night Roy and you know what? Cash is king’.
“It was about 40-grand laying on the ground there!
{{/usCountry}}“It was about 40-grand laying on the ground there!
{{/usCountry}}"You realise how special he was,” Symonds said.
Symonds added that he was grateful to have known Warne. “He was hugely generous, he would always help someone he liked. I was fortunate enough to be in that category,” said the former Aussie all-rounder.
Warne's memorial service was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and was attended by many former Australian cricketers including Glenn McGrath and Michael Clarke, among others.