'Thought journalist said his name but meant Marsh': AUS great reveals final conversation with Warne before Thailand trip

The Aussie great revealed his final conversation with Warne, which he had two days before his Thailand trip, saying that they had made plans after his return.

It has been five days since the shocking demise of Australia cricket legend Shane Warne but world cricket is yet to recover from the news that emerged from Thailand where the former cricketer was holidaying with his friends. Warne, aged 52, died of natural causes as stated by the autopsy report. Tributes continue to pour in for the spin maestro as his former teammates reveal how they are still rocked by the untimely death of Warne. On Tuesday, former Australia captain Michael Clarke revealed that he was initially confused when he heard it before revealing his final conversation with Warne moments before his Thailand trip.

Shane Warne

Warne was found unresponsive at his Koh Samui villa in Thailand by his friends before he was pronounced dead at a local hospital on Friday. Five days hence Clarke admitted that he will never be able to bid goodbye to his former teammate.

Fighting back tears when asked about Warne on The Today Show, Clarke said, “No more crying … my God. It will be hard … I’m sure he will get the send off that he deserves but I don’t think I will ever say goodbye."

Clarke then revealed his final conversation with Warne, which he had two days before his Thailand trip, saying that they had made plans after his return.

“I spoke to him two days before he got on the plane for Thailand. And he sounded as happy and positive as ever. We spoke briefly about both trying to get fit and stay healthy. But we spoke about that regularly. I noticed no change. I caught up with him when he was here commentating for the T20 series against Sri Lanka and he was exactly the same. The plan was we he could be back from Thailand I would go and see him, he bought a new car, we both love cars. That is why it was still an absolute shock,” he said.

He further recalled the moment he was confronted with this news, saying that he couldn't believe it and felt that probably the journalist confused him with Rod Marsh, another Aussie great, who passed away less than 24 hours before Warne's death.

“I remember when I got a phone call from Helen early in the morning on Saturday, I thought there might have been a bit of confusion, like a journalist might have said Warnie’s name when they really meant Rod Marsh,” Clarke confessed.

“It took me some time to believe it was real.”