'Distasteful. Quite shocking': Fans blast broadcasters for showing Shane Warne’s ad during England vs New Zealand Test

Shane Warne passed away in March from a suspected heart attack, aged 52, drawing shock and grief from his millions of fans as well as prominent names across the globe.

TV viewers were left shocked by a Shane Warne advertisement being shown during England's ongoing Test against New Zealand at Headingley, Leeds. The former Australia cricketer passed away in March from a suspected heart attack, aged 52, drawing shock and grief from his millions of fans as well as prominent names across the globe.

Australia great Shane Warne (Twitter/Colin__Woods )

But the spin icon still appeared in the Advanced Hair Studio advert, during a break of Sky Sports coverage of Day 2 of the England-New Zealand Test. The clip has now been pulled from the broadcaster's programming. Many fans said it didn't "sit right" and some even labelled the video as "quite shocking".

"Do you really think it's appropriate to show adverts during the test match which feature the late Shane Warne? Bit distasteful in my eyes…" wrote one fan.

"Am I the only person who thinks it a bit disrespectful that @AdvHairStudio still use the late Shane Warne in their TV advert?" tweeted another.

"Not content with using footage of Graham Gooch that must be 20 years old, they’re still using the late great Shane Warne’s endorsement. Feels a bit weird," a third said. "Hiya @SkyCricket not sure a bald denying ad featuring Shane Warne is in the best possible taste," complained one more fan.

"Why is the dory missed Shane Warne still being used in the hair restoration advert. Quite shocking," said a user.

During the first Test at Lord's, the play was briefly paused after the 23rd over as the players lined up on the outfield and a large crowd stood for a minute's applause in honour of Warne who wore the number 23 shirt.

The leg-spinner was also honoured at a two-hour service at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with more than 50,000 free tickets handed out in March. It was the iconic MCG that saw Warne taking a hat-trick in an Ashes Test against England. He also picked up his 700th Test wicket at the venue.

A stand at the ground was officially re-named after Warne, who in the eyes of many is second only to Bradman in Australia's long list of sporting greats. Rajasthan Royals fans also held lifesize posters of Warne during their IPL qualifier against Royal Challengers Bangalore.