Former teammates, colleagues and opponents have remembered the man that Shane Warne was, after the cricket icon's sudden death on Saturday morning (NZ time).
Warne tragically died of a suspected heart attack while holidaying on the Thai island of Koh Samui. He was just 52. But the former Australian cricketer leaves a legacy never likely to be matched - both on and off the field.
The leg spinner was the first man to reach the mark of 700 test wickets, and sits second on the list of cricket's most successful bowlers, second only to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.
From 1992 to 2007, Warne played in 145 tests for Australia, along with 195 one day internationals - as well as stints in domestic cricket in England and India.
As a cricketer, Warne almost transcended the sport itself. As a bowler there was no greater with the ball, with Warne leaving a mark as one of Wisden's five greatest cricketers of the 20th century - alongside Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs and Sir Viv Richards.
That legend has seen so many fans across the world struggle to come to terms with his passing.
"My dad summed it up the best," ex-Australia fast bowler Brett Lee tells Newshub.
"When he walked downstairs and I told him this morning, I said Warnie's died, he says 'Shane Warne can't die, he can't be dead'.
"That's the expression we're getting from all around the world. All the cricketers, everyone from rock stars - from Elton John to Mick Jagger have all tweeted about it.
"Warnie can't pass away, he's 52. So that's what makes it a harder pill to swallow."
It's not just ex-teammates saddened by his death either. Former Blackcaps batter and batting coach Craig McMillan had many duels with Warne, famously even standing front on during a one day international against Australia back in 2002.
And McMillan tells Newshub that Warne's impact on cricket has and will be felt through the game forever.
"He was the ultimate showman," McMillan says. "His favourite stage was the middle of a cricket ground, with a big crowd - that's where he was at his best.
"In many ways, he rejuvenated spin bowling. Not only leg spin bowling, but spin bowling in general. He made it cool, he made it fun when in many ways it wasn't.
"That was crucial in terms of cricket as a sport, we need spin bowling and it was a dying art. He really brought it back to life.
"There'll be a lot of things that'll be talked about, mentioned about Shane Warne, but I think that was one of his greatest assets.
"He was just the best. You always felt when you were facing him that he was going to get you out. And quite often, when he was bowling to me more times than not he did that.
"It always made you feel very uneasy from a batting point of view, when you're facing a bowler and you feel like there's a certain ball that's got your name on it.
"That was just how good his skillset, his ability to work through a plan, his tactical knowledge of the game was second to none. He was the ultimate competitor, the ultimate performer."
Another former Blackcap, Simon Doull, shared not only the field but the commentary box with Warne, and tells of his genius extending far from the pitch.
"A good mate," Doull tells Newshub. "A guy I spent a lot of time playing against, first and foremost, and then in the commentary box.
"An amazing thinker of the game. It's no surprise that he transferred what he did on the field to coaching, and then to the commentary box.
"He would say something, and you'd be like 'really Warnie? Come on' and then five minutes later it would happen. He was just one of those genius type blokes that could see something in the game that so many others couldn't see."
In a sport so steeped in tradition and history, Warne's colourful nature and persona often stood out. His perceived nature as a "bad boy" of the game has led to tags of being the greatest captain Australia never had.
And Lee adds that Warne's nature will see him remembered as one of cricket's true "rock stars".
"He had the character, he was a rock star of cricket wasn't he?" Lee adds. "The guy that pretty much changed cricket.
"He changed the way people watched cricket. Every young kid, boy and girl that were watching Australia, that wanted to play for Australia wanted to be Shane Warne.
"If you watch cricket, you've heard of Shane Warne. Even if you don't watch cricket, even in the States, they've heard about the blonde-haired bombshell Shane Warne.
"People knew Warnie, they knew about the controversies. They knew about Warnie, with smoking, doing all the wrong things - pretty much what a rock star would do, and rock star would get applauded for."
But if Warne made the headlines for the wrong reasons, his character as a man often went unreported.
His former teammates and opponents all tell stories of Warne's generosity off the field, giving his time to whoever would ask it of him, even at his own expense.
"Knowing him very closely and personally over the last 20 odd years, the stuff he did behind the scenes," adds Lee.
"The help, the children's charities, to pop up to coaching clinics, not even ask for a paid appearance, just to turn up to try to put back in and just surprise kids.
"You always hear the bad things about people - and sure, he lived a very polarising, very colourful life - but I can finish by saying he was a good friend. He had a big heart. And the one thing about Shane Warne was he always took care of his friends and his family."
McMillan adds that Warne's generosity nearly cost him playing in English County Cricket.
"There was a particular game I was playing for Hampshire with Warnie," McMillan tells.
"He was actually late onto the field because he'd been spending time with a young boy who'd come down to watch.
"The young lad was only eight or nine, but was very sick but had made his way down to watch this game, in many ways his final act.
"Warnie had spent a couple of hours with him. So he hadn't warmed up with us, and was late onto the field. We were wondering where he was, that was because he didn't want to leave the side of this boy who just loved Warnie, wanted to spend time with him before the inevitable happened.
"He would do that and put a smile on their face, and that would make it worthwhile. He did a lot of things like that over the years that didn't really get reported on, because there was plenty of other stories about Shane Warne that were more topical, and got more hits on them.
"He was a good bloke all round."
