(Note to readers: The previous version of our copy mentioned the death of Heath Streak. However, we can confirm that he is in good health. We reported it earlier and regret the story)
Heath Streak, Zimbabwe’s legendary cricketer, is still alive. Hours after Streak’s former teammate Henry Olonga posted about his former captain’s death, the singer-turned speed pitcher shared another message confirming the opposite. Olonga shared a screenshot of his WhatsApp conversation with Streak, who wrote that he was “a lot alive” and asked Henry to remove his previous update.
“I can confirm that the rumors of Heath Streak’s death have been greatly exaggerated. I just heard from him. The third referee called him back. He’s still alive everyone, ” Olonga wrote on X.
Several of Zimbabwe’s top websites, along with Zimbabwe cricket captain Sean Williams were among the first to share the hoax about Streak’s death, after which several members of the ticketing association joined , including Indian cinematographer Ravichandran Ashwin. With him were people like VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble. They all took down their posts.
A look back at Heath Streak’s career
The former Zimbabwe captain represented the country in 65 Tests and 189 ODIs. He continues to be Zimbabwe’s all-time top catcher in both the Test and the ODI. The former right-hand tempo driver had 216 points in the Test and 239 in the ODI.
Streak was the first Zimbabwean cricketer to win 100 batting hits in both the Test and the ODI. He is also the only Zimbabwean cricketer to complete a double of 100 catches and 1000 test runs and the only person in the country to achieve 2000 runs and win 200 catches in the ODI. The brave all-rounder, who is good at the new ball, can also hit the ball in a lower average position. His 1990 test scored a best of 127* and 2943 runs in the ODI at an average of 28.29 are proof of that.
Streak made his Test and ODI debut the same year in 1993 and after steady performances with both bat and ball, he was named team captain in 2000. He made history by signing up. won Zimbabwe’s first overseas Test series by leading the team to a 2-1 victory over New Zealand in 2001. However, his road to captaincy was never smooth.
Tensions between senior players and the board regarding player quotas led him to resign as captain only to be reinstated in 2002. He faced a new challenge when the Senior players, including Olonga, have protested against the Zimbabwean government. Streak relinquished the captaincy in 2004 after a disagreement with the board.
Streak returned in 2005 and played his final Test match against India in September of that year before signing for the English county side Warwickshire. He was appointed as the Zimbabwean team’s bowling coach in 2009. He held the position until 2013. His second time as a support staff for the Zimbabwe team was from 2016 to 2018. He also served as the bowling coach of the IPL Kolkata Knight Riders team in 2018.
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