Details of Shane Warne's shocking death on Friday have been revealed by the former cricket star's friend and manager James Erskine.
The sporting world was shocked on Friday night as Warne's death was reported, with the 52-year-old dying from a heart attack whilst on holiday in Thailand.
Now details of Warne being found in his hotel room before being rushed to hospital have been revealed by Erskine, after the former cricketer was found by colleague Andrew Neophitou.
"They were going to have a drink at 5pm or go and meet someone to go out and have a drink at 5pm," Erskine told Fox Sports on a tv special 'Remembering Shane Warne.'
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"Neo knocked on his door at 5.15 because Warnie is always on time.
"And he went in there and said 'come on, you're going to be late' and then realised something was wrong.
"And he turned him over and gave him CPR and mouth to mouth, which lasted about 20 minutes and then the ambulance came.
"They took him to the hospital, which was about a 20-minute drive and I got a phone call about 45 minutes later saying he was pronounced dead."
Erskine, who also revealed that Warne had wanted a year off work but had settled on three months, that he was just starting, was the man who had to tell the commentator's family about the tragic news.
"It is like all these things you work on adrenaline," the former Hampshire player's manager told Fox.
"You are not much help to anyone if you are a blubbering mess. I’m very lucky my mind works clinically.
"I was talking to Keith last night when his son was dead. He was going to go and see the three children and talking to Brooke and to Jackson I was not going to tell them that their father was dead because he wasn’t at that stage pronounced dead. But I said it looks pretty grim.
“Simone (Warne’s ex-wife and mother of his three children) had gone to pick up the youngest child Summer and we then called Simone and said, listen you better tell them when you are all together that Shane has passed away.”
Warne was one of sports great characters, both on and off the field, as well as being one of the all time greats, taking 708 Test wickets, the second most of any player.
He delivered some of finest balls, often against England, including the famous 'Ball of the Century,' that got out Mike Gatting in 1993, Warne's first ball against Australia's rivals.
The Australian also made 3154 runs during his Test career, and is by far and away the player with the most runs without scoring a century, with a high score of 99.
He was chief tormentor of England over the years, playing in a generation when the 'Baggy Green' had one of the greatest Test teams ever.
Less than 24 hours before his untimely death, the former spin bowler, one of the greatest ever bowlers in the history of the sport, had paid tribute to fellow Australia cricket legend Rod Marsh, who had just passed away.
Warne will be missed by a great many cricket fans for his commentary and analysis, which had become a permanent fixture on Sky Sports in the years since his retirement.
Topics: Cricket
Ryan Sidle