Family, sportspeople and entertainers joined hands to bid an emotional farewell to Shane Warne at a private funeral, held at his hometown in Melbourne, on Sunday. Warne, one of the finest bowlers of all time whose talent and personality transcended cricket, passed away aged 52 on March 4 while on holiday in Koh Samui, Thailand.

Thai authorities said an autopsy showed his death was from natural causes and Warne’s family later accepted the findings.

About 80 people attended the service, which was an invite-only event. Warne’s children — son Jackson (22) and daughters Brooke (24) and Summer (20) — were present on the occasion.

While Summer was in tears as the service drew to a close, Jackson had a golf club and a cricket ball in his hands as tribute for his late father. Post-retirement, Warne had a keen interest in golf.

Retired Australia Test captains Mark Taylor, Allan Border and Michael Clarke attended the event, while former England skipper Michael Vaughan was also present. Warne’s long-time teammates Mark Waugh and Ian Healy were also in attendance, along with bowling greats Merv Hughes and Glenn McGrath.

With the legend being also an avid Australian Football League (AFL) fan, especially of team St Kilda, the service was held at the oval of St Kilda Football Club. Guests were asked to wear St Kilda scarves and a pair of them were draped across Warne’s coffin as it was driven around the ground to popular songs including the 1970s Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes hit ‘The Time of My Life’.

Warne’s close friend and television presenter Eddie McGuire described the former leg-spinner as “Superman” in his speech, and added: “He was simply the best.”

A host of AFL personalities were also present at the event. However, Warne’s former girlfriend, British actress Liz Hurley, was unable to attend the funeral. Hurley, 56, took to Instagram to explain her absence.

“My heart aches that I can’t be in Australia for Shane’s funeral. I was filming and, with the time jump, physically can’t get there. It still hasn’t really sunk in that he’s gone.”

Warne is arguably the most famous and influential Australian cricketer since Don Bradman and is widely credited with revitalising the art of leg-spin bowling after an era dominated by fast bowlers. He finished with 708 Test scalps.

A charter plane carrying Warne’s body landed in his home city of Melbourne last week after an eight-hour flight from Thailand.

A state memorial service will be held at the 100,000-seater Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on March 30.