The Shane Warne commentary box inaugurated at Lord's

The Sky Sports team paid tribute to Shane Warne, who unfortunately passed away in March 2022. Mike Atherton, Rob Key, and Shane Warne's old agent Michael Cohen have officially named the Lord's commentary box the Shane Warne Commentary Box.

Former England captain Atherton said, "After Richie Benaud, I don't think any Australian cricketer had such a warm and special relationship with an English audience. Shane loved playing in England; he loved playing on this ground; he commented many years in our commentary box. The MCC has given us the honour of naming the commentary box after the great man."

"Shane was more than a sporting phenomenon to all of us. He was one of the most admirable people we had ever met," Michael Cohen, Warne's long time agent, said.

"Lord's was very important to Shane. His portrait painting by Fanny Rush is displayed in the pavilion here, and Shane had some of his greatest cricket successes playing for Australia here at Lord's," Cohen added.

Cohen cut the ribbon to the Shane Warne Commentary Box, where Atherton unveiled a beautiful memorial to the renowned leg-spinner on the room's rear wall.

At Lord's, Warne collected 19 wickets at an average of 19.58 in four Test matches. In his first Test on the ground in 1993, he took 4/57 and 4/102, and he never lost a Test there again (three wins, one draw).

His last series in England was particularly memorable. Warne played a significant role in the 2005 Ashes, which is hailed as one of the greatest series of all time. His 40 wickets and 249 runs weren't quite enough to keep Australia in the Ashes, but he gave them a fighting chance in a series where they were outplayed.

Warne was a regular on the Sky Sports commentary crew, alongside Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain, among his former opponents. After retiring from cricket, Warne worked as a commentator for Sky Sports for a number of years.