Shane Warne state funeral to take place at Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 30

Australian cricket great died at the age of 52 on the Thai holiday island of Koh Samui on Friday

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

Australian cricket great Shane Warne will be honoured with a state funeral at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the evening of March 30, the Victorian state government said Wednesday.

Warne died at the age of 52 on the Thai holiday island of Koh Samui on Friday. His body is to be repatriated. An autopsy found he had died of natural causes following a reported heart attack.

A state funeral for the legendary leg-spinner will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with tickets open to the public, said a statement by the Victorian government.

Warne "didn't just inspire a cricketing generation - he defined it," it said.

Further details were still being finalised, the state government added.

"There's nowhere in the world more appropriate to farewell Warnie than the 'G'," said Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

"Victorians will be able to pay tribute to Shane and his contribution (to) our state, and his sport, at a memorial service at the MCG on the evening of March 30th," he said in a statement.

Warne's death sparked a global outpouring of grief from prime ministers, rock stars and fellow players, an acknowledgement that the Melbourne native transcended his sport.