Calls grow for cricket legend Shane Warne to be honoured with a knighthood

An online petition has emerged calling for changes to be made to the constitution to allow cricket icon Shane Warne to be posthumously honoured with a knighthood.

Following Warne’s passing on March 4, interest has grown in a three year old Change.org petition created by David Tieck with a few big names voicing their support.

British broadcasting personality Piers Morgan took to Twitter to voice his support for Warne’s knighthood given his “services to cricket and charity.”

Shane Warne was the only one of Wisden’s 5 greatest cricketers of 20th Century not to be knighted. He wasn’t Mother Teresa but if Gavin bloody Williamson can get a gong then so should Warnie, posthumously, for services to cricket & charity. Make it happen @BorisJohnson #SirShane pic.twitter.com/gZbW7u3N1D

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 5, 2022

Warne previously entertained the idea of receiving a knighthood in his column for London’s Daily Telegraph.

“I‘m not quite sure what the future holds but I do note that the other four men who were chosen in Wisden’s Five Cricketers Of The Century are all Sirs,” Warne wrote.

“Perhaps my knighthood has been lost in the post.

“Sir Shane Warne – it has quite a ring to it, don’t you think?”

The petition implored cricketing loving Australians to sign the petition while calling on high profile figures such as the Queen, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese to make the necessary changes to the Constitution.

“This request, nay demand, is simple – it is time for Shane Keith Warne to become SIR Shane Keith Warne,” Tieck wrote.

Currently, the Constitution only allows the living to be awarded a knighthood.

Warne died of a suspected heart attack, age 52, while holidaying on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand on March 4.

Warne’s management released a statement early Saturday, March 5 acknowledging the tragedy.

“Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” the statement said.

“The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course.”

We are shocked and saddened by the passing of Shane Warne.

A true cricketing genius.

Our thoughts are with his family, friends and fans all across the world. pic.twitter.com/7V4iMxVx4i

— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) March 4, 2022

Warne, widely considered one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history, played his first Test match in 1992 and took over 1,000 wickets in Tests and One-Day Internationals over the course of his career. Warne’s 708 Test wickets from 145 tests was the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket until 2007.

Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack recognised Shane’s incredible sporting achievements by naming him as one of its Five Cricketers of the Twentieth Century alongside fellow cricket icons Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs and Sir Vivian Richards. He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2013.