The Great Southern Stand at MCG will be renamed in honour of Shane Warne.

In a statement on Saturday, Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) manager Martin Pakula said the Great Southern Stand would be named after Shane Warne as soon as possible. The cricket world mourns the loss of one of cricket’s greats, Shane Warne, who passed away aged 52.

During an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Pakula stated that he didn’t want to discuss the process of renaming, but he spoke with Dan a few hours ago, and Dan emailed Shane’s brother, and sometimes there is no need to follow the process.

The community needs to respond in a way that I believe is appropriate, he said.

In the history of cricket, Warne is considered one of the greatest. When he emerged onto the international stage in the early 1990s, he nearly single-handedly redefined the art of leg-spin, and by the time he retired from international cricket in 2007, he had been the first bowler to surpass 700 Test wickets.

In recognition of his contributions to Australia’s ICC Cricket World Cup victory in 1999, when he was named player of the match in both the semi-final and final, Shane was named one of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack’s Five Cricketers of the Twentieth Century.

Shane concluded his international career with 708 Test wickets and 293 One-Day International wickets, ranking him second all-time after his close friend and competitor, Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka (1,347). In 11 One-Day Internationals, Shane captained Australia to ten wins and one loss.