An online petition is calling on an amendment to the constitution to allow cricketing legend Shane Warne to be posthumously honoured with a knxjmtzywighthood.
The petition, Let’s Unite and Make Warnie a Knight, was created by Ben Malouf and his brother-in-law Matthew last Thursday after the sudden passing of the beloved Australian cricketer.
Warne himself once toyed with the idea of knighthood in his 2011 column in London’s newspaper.
“I‘m not quite sure what the future holds but I do note that the other four men who were chosen in Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Century are all sirs,” Warne wrote.
“Perhaps my knighthood has been lost in the post.”
Warne was named among the top five cricketers of the century by the renowned Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, an annual publication known colloquially as “The Bible of Cricket”.
His Wisden peers – Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs and Sir Viv Richards – were all honoured with a knighthood.
Mr Malouf said since launching the petition, he has received messages of support from every cricket-playing nation, including England, India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
“We think Sir Shane Warne just sounds right,” he told 2GB on Monday morning.
“It’s not just here in Australia, the feedback we’ve been getting comes from right around the world.”
Warne died last week of a suspected heart attack while on holiday on Koh Samui Island in Thailand.
His body arrived back home in Melbourne on Thursday night ahead of a state funeral to be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the evening of March 30.
So far, the petition has attracted 4273 signatures in just four days.
Former Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan has come out in support of the push to knight Shane Warne, citing his services to cricket and charity.
Warne auctioned off his cherished “baggy green” cap for more than $1m to raise funds for victims of the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires in Australia.
There is just one thing standing in the way of bestowing the honour – the Constitution of the Order of Australia dictates that knighthoods can only be awarded to the living.
The team at ShaneWarneLegacy.com is calling on an amendment to enable the honour to be granted posthumously and to reintroduce the award of knight and dame of the order of Australia.
Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull abolished the title of knight and dame from the honours system in 2015 after they were reintroduced by his predecessor Tony Abbott in 2014.
Prior to this, the honour had been absent for almost three decades.
If a knighthood is not possible, the petition is calling for Warne to be commemorated with a Companion of the Order of Australia for his service to the sport.
