Sri Lanka's beautiful Shane Warne gesture before Test Series

Sri Lanka has made a lovely gesture to honour cricket icon Shane Warne after his shock death earlier this year.

Warne died in March at age 52 after suffering a suspected heart attack while holidaying on Koh Samui island in Thailand.

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His death sparked an outpouring of grief around the world.

And Sri Lanka have paid their respects to the cricket legend in their own special way.

Australia and Sri Lanka kick-started their Test Series in Galle on Wednesday as the duo fight for the Warne—Muralitharan trophy.

And before the players were on ground, Sri Lanka presented a plate to Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley with a photo of Shane Warne.

The plate read: "In Sri Lankan hearts you shall remain a legend of the game, of cricket and humanity."

"In memory of Shane Warne."

To honour the legend, nearly half of the 1996 Sri Lankan World Cup winning team attended the memorial.

Warne became a popular figure in Sri Lanka after arriving to help out families following the devastation of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

Despite their rivalry on the pitch, Warne called Muttiah Muralitharan and asked how he could help after the disaster.

And Warne travelled to the Sri Lanka to offer families devastated by the natural disaster some help.

Aussie captain Pat Cummins and Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne took a photo with the trophy before the game.

Australia and Sri Lanka Test series get underway

After the beautiful gesture from Sri Lanka, the hosts walked out to bat after winning the toss.

The hosts' spinners took 54 wickets when they whitewashed Australia 3-0 in 2016, but chief destroyers Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera have since retired.

Australia also plan to bring a more attacking approach against Sri Lanka's tweakers on this tour, desperate to unsettle them and their lengths.

Heavy rain had briefly fallen on Wednesday morning in Galle, and ground staff brought covers onto the field anticipating more 10 minutes before the toss.

Ashes man-of-the-series Travis Head underwent a fitness test on Tuesday evening, and has since recovered from that without complaint.

It means Glenn Maxwell's wait for a Test recall will continue, after last featuring in Australia's red-ball side in Bangladesh in 2017.

Australia had previously confirmed that Mitchell Swepson would retain his spot as second spinner, with Josh Hazlewood the seamer to miss out.

with AAP

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