Shane Warne was watching cricket, had not been drinking: Manager

IANS | Sydney

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Details emerging about Shane Warne’s death due to a suspected heart-attack on Friday reveal that he was watching cricket before a scheduled meeting with friends for dinner when he suffered the attack. A report in Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday said that the legendary spinner’s business manager perform CPR for about 20 minutes to save him.

“The 52-year-old’s long-time manager told the Herald and The Age (that) Warne had not been drinking before he was found by his friend Andrew Neophitou, an executive producer on his recently released documentary, who had gone to Warne’s Thailand hotel room before a planned dinner,” the report said.

The reports added that Warne was found unconscious “with the historic first Test between Australia and Pakistan playing on the television”. It said the legendary spinner was holidaying at a resort in Koh Samui, Thailand “as part of a rare extended holiday” and was scheduled to travel to the UK on his commentating assignment.

“They were meant to meet some people at 5pm. Neo (Neophitou) was next door, he’s always on time,” Warne’s long-time manager James Erskine said.

“He realised he wasn’t well. He tried to give mouth-to-mouth, tried to resuscitate him, he had no heartbeat, the ambulance came 20 minutes later and an hour and a bit later he was pronounced dead (at the Thai International Hospital).”

According to Erskine, Warne was off drinks as he’d been dieting.