It’s a text message I will never delete: Adam Gilchrist reveals his last chat with Shane Warne

Shane Warne passed away on March 04 (Friday), leaving a huge void in the cricketing fraternity. The 52-year-old was in Thailand on a personal trip when he breathed his last due to a suspected heart attack. As the world cricket is still trying to recover from the loss of one of their all-time greats, former Aussie wicketkeeper-batsman and Warne’s ex-teammate Adam Gilchrist spilled the beans on his relationship with the leg spinner and his last chat with him.

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“I spoke to Shane about a week ago. I received a really nice text from him. Probably, I am assuming this was eight hours before he passed away. He was just sending me a message. He was one of the few guys that consistently called me church. It’s a nickname only those in the inner circle knew about – about being confused by a young English fan and they called me ‘Eric Gilchurch’. He always called me ‘Churchy’ and it always felt like a term of endearment from a friend,” Gilchrist told ABC News.

“He messaged me saying, ‘Church, wonderful tribute to Rod Marsh’. Which I was very honoured to do a voice over. We were not even close to coming to terms with the passing of my childhood hero in Rod Marsh and another legend of the cricket world. Warnie just messaged me and said ‘well done on that sir’. So that was the last contact. It’s a text message I will never delete.”

Warne and Gilchrist were two of Australia’s mainstays, across formats, during the Men in Yellow’s golden run from late 1990s to mid-2000s. The duo was part of Australia’s 1999 ODI World Cup win, Ashes dominance and many other such memorable victories.

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On Thursday (March 10), Warne’s body landed in his home city of Melbourne following an eight-hour flight from Thailand, via a chartered plane. For the unversed, the iconic former spin-bowler will be buried at a private funeral, as stated by his family members last week. A state memorial service will follow suit at the 100,000-seater Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on March 30.

Warne remains a big name in world cricket, who had a stellar international career with 708 Test and 293 ODI scalps. He was the first-ever IPL-winning captain (leading Rajasthan Royals to the title in 2008) and also served as a commentator.