Shane Warne: Autopsy shows Australian cricket legend's death due to natural causes

Warne's family had been informed of the results and had accepted the finding, Thai police say

Australian cricketer Shane Warne has died. He was 52. Getty Images

Shane Warne working as a TV pundit during a test match between Australia and Pakistan at The Gabba in Brisbane, Australia, in 2019. Getty Images

Shane Warne and Elizabeth Hurley before Shane Warne's Australia took on Michael Vaughan's England in a T20 match at Cirencester Cricket Club in 2013. Getty Images

Australia's Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne celebrate with the Ashes trophy in 2007. Action Images

Australian captain Steve Waugh and vice captain Shane Warne during a ticker-tape parade through Melbourne, in celebration of the Australian cricket team's victory over Pakistan in the 1999 Cricket World Cup Final. Getty Images

Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh and Shane Warne of Australia after victory over Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup Final at Lord's in London in 1999. Getty Images

Shane Warne celebrates a Pakistan wicket in the Cricket World Cup Final at Lord's in London in 1999. Getty Images

Shane Warne celebrates by dancing with a stump on the dressing room balcony after victory over England in the Fifth Ashes test match at Trent Bridge in 1997. Getty Images

Shane Warne bowls to Graham Thorpe of England during the third test at Old Trafford in Manchester in 1997. Getty Images

Shane Warne and Brian Lara of the West Indies in Australia in 1995. Getty Images

Shane Warne after recording a career best 8 for 71 in the first Ashes test against England at the Brisbane Cricket Ground in Woolloongabba, in 1994. Getty Images

Warne in action against Somerset in 1993. Getty Images

Shane Warne in 1990. Getty Images

Thai police said Australian cricket great Shane Warne's death last week was due to natural causes.

Warne's family had been informed of the results of an autopsy and had accepted the finding, deputy national police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen said.

"Today investigators received the autopsy result, in which the medical opinion is that the cause of death is natural," Kissana said.

"Investigators will summarize the autopsy result for prosecutors within the timeframe of the law."

Warne's body would be flown to Australia on Tuesday, Police Lieutenant General Surachate Hakparn told a news conference.

The senior police official ruled out any foul play and said Warne died due to a suspected heart attack.

The autopsy report showed Warne died of a "congenital disease", Songyot Chayaninporamet, deputy director of Samui Hospital, told a news conference.

"There is no Covid-19 infection and no sign of assault or murder," Songyot added.

Warne, one of the finest spin bowlers of all time whose talent and personality transcended the sport, died on the Thai island of Koh Samui on Friday age 52.

Well-wishers left tributes of flowers, flags, an Australian sports shirt, a can of beans and a packet of cigarettes outside the villa on the northeast coast of Koh Samui where Warne was found unconscious.

His death prompted an avalanche of tributes from and beyond the cricketing world with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison describing him as "one of our nation's greatest characters."

Warne, whose 708 Test wickets is the second-highest haul in history, will be afforded a state funeral in his home state of Victoria, officials said Saturday.

Fans have continued to lay floral tributes at the Melbourne Cricket Ground’s Shane Warne statue, while the stadium’s Great Southern Stand will be renamed the SK Warne Stand in the spin king’s honour.