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This is the day in his life Shane Warne wanted to go back to – the day his son Jackson was born. The same Jackson who said that “sitting at the poker table, walking around the golf course, watching the Saints and eating pizza is never going to be the same,” now that his father has died.

I was interviewing Shane for The Big Issue cover story for Ed#605, a Letter to My Younger Self. He was typically open and honest. He explained that his mother taught him manners – Warnie, despite the larrikin image, was as polite a person as I have encountered. “Always smell nice and have good manners,” he said, which has stuck in my mind. It was clear, talking to Warnie, that the most important thing to him was family – he nominated his parents, Keith and Brigitte, as his heroes. He was not averse to confronting his disappointments, like when his AFL team, St Kilda, told him his services as a player were no longer required, which meant that aged 18 his one and only dream was shattered. At that time the notion of playing cricket for Australia was not on his radar. He made it clear in our interview that while he had many friends – just look at the roll call of household names who have mourned his passing – it’s the close core friends that count.

The clock was ticking and Warnie had to move on to his next engagement – it was a Friday night and his old club, the Stars, were playing. But I had one more question. “Shoot,” he said.

For the first time in our chat, he was a little lost for words. He hesitated. So unlike Shane. Maybe he didn’t really want to say. Maybe it hurt too much. But he said it anyway. The day in his life he would like to return to – there were two of them. The day his first child, Brooke, was born, and he was in England on an Ashes tour. And the day his son, Jackson, was born, when again he was touring England, on the dressing room balcony at Cardiff, wishing he was home in Melbourne with his wife Simone, child and baby. Third time lucky – he got his wish to be present at the birth of his third child, Summer.

God bless, Shane. Luv ya.