Australia cricket legend and the greatest leg-spinner of all time, Shane Warne, has died, aged 52. Warne’s management released a brief statement in the early hours of Saturday (AEDT), that he passed away in Koh Samui, Thailand, of a suspected heart attack.

In 24 hours, this is the second devastating news for the Australian cricketing fraternity with fellow great, Rod Marsh, dying on Friday having suffered a major heart attack last week.

Incidentally, Warne had condoled his demise in a tweet this morning.

“Sad to hear the news that Rod Marsh has passed. He was a legend of our great game & inspiration to so many young boys & girls. Rod cared deeply about cricket & gave so much-especially to Australia & England players. Sending lots & lots of love to Ros & the family. RIP mate,” he had posted.

As the cricketer died, tributes from across the world poured in.

“Warney”, as he was known throughout the cricketing world, was without question one of the true icons of world cricket, a man who almost singlehandedly revived the art of legs pin in the early 1990s.

Also read: Shane Warne controversies: From drugs to affairs

Although luminaries such as Pakistan’s Abdul Qadir had kept the art of leg-spin alive, Warne brought a new glamour and attacking intent to leg spin, with his bottle-blond hair allied to a keen tactical brain that he used to outfox a host of unwitting opponents in his pomp.

After an underwhelming debut against India in 1991-92, where his solitary wicket came at a cost of 150 runs, Warne hinted at his full potential in bowling Australia to an unlikely victory over Sri Lanka in Morutuwa, before – in his fifth appearance – he ripped out seven match-winning wickets against West Indies at his home ground of Melbourne in the 1992-93 Boxing Day Test.

Also read: Shane Warne paid tribute to Rod Marsh in last Twitter post before death

Warne’s stellar international career spanned across 15 years and saw him take 708 Test wickets — the most ever for an Australian, and the second-most of all time behind only Muttiah Muralitharan.

Having made his Test debut at the SCG in 1992, Warne rose to become a key figure across all formats in one of the greatest sustained periods of dominance by any team in world cricket.

He was a member of Australia’s World Cup win in 1999, and five Ashes-winning sides between 1993 and 2003.