Cricket great Shane Warne’s body arrives back in Australia ahead of state funeral

CRICKET great Shane Warne’s body was flown home to Australia yesterday.

Family including ex-wife Simone waited at Essendon Airport Melbourne to meet the private jet from Thailand, with his coffin draped in the Aussie flag.

Shane, 52, died of a .

His body arrived from Thailand where he died suddenly a week ago following a suspected heart attack in his luxury villa.

The sporting icon's death shocked the world and Australia is now preparing to bid farewell to their cricketing hero with a state funeral, with 100,000 mourners expected to pack Warne's beloved Melbourne Cricket Ground.

His parents, children and ex-wife Simone Callahan were all seen waiting in a hangar at the airport.

Warne's personal assistant Helen Nolan was visibly upset as she joined others close to the star.

The star's coffin was draped in an Australian flag and his mother was seen clutching a white rose as a white van carrying the cricket hero’s body left the airport on his final voyage home.

Outside a small group of fans also gathered to pay their respects.

Thai authorities cleared his body to be returned home after an autopsy report revealed Warne died of natural causes.

Hours before her dad's body arrived in Oz, Warne's eldest daughter Brooke, 24, posted a heartbreaking tribute to him.

"Dad my heart is broken, this doesn't feel real and doesn't make sense that you are not here with us anymore, it doesn't feel right, you were taken away too soon and life is so cruel," she wrote alongside a photo of the pair.

Her brother Jackson, 23, also shared a series of snaps and videos with his dad.

He wrote: "Thank you everyone for the overwhelming amount of support, messages and love."