Harare: Cricket fraternity woke up to the sad news of the demise of ex-Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak, who had been ailing for some time. The feisty fast bowler, who played between 1993 and 2005, died in the early hours of Sunday at his farm in Matabeleland. He was 49. Nadaine Streak, Heath's wife, confirmed the news on Facebook.
“In the early hours of this morning, Sunday the 3rd of September 2023, the greatest love of my life and the father of my beautiful children, was carried to be with the Angels from his home where he wished to spend his last days surrounded by his family and closest loved ones. He was covered in love and peace and did not walk off the Park alone. Our souls are joined for eternity Streaky. Till I hold you again,” Nadine Streak wrote on Facebook.
John Rennie, a former Zimbabwe international and the spokesperson for the family, in a social media message said, “He passed away in the early hours of the morning at his farm at Matabeleland. He was surrounded by his family and loved ones. He died peacefully after a long fight with cancer…” Rennie said.
Former India cricketer VVS Laxman was one of the first to pay condolence to Streak on X (formerly Twitter).
A couple of weeks ago, Streak’s former colleague Henry Olonga announced on social media about Streak’s death. However, later both Streak and Olonga confirmed that the news was untrue and Olonga even offered an apology for his previous post. One of the biggest names of Zimbabwe cricket, Streak was handed an eight-year-ban by the International Cricket Council in 2021 for breaching the anti-corruption code in 2018.
One of Zimbabwe’s greatest cricketers, Streak ended with 216 wickets in Tests and 239 in ODIs and after moving on from international cricket, he coached several international sidse - including Zimbabwe, Bangladesh - and quite a few Indian Premier League outfits like Kolkata Knight Riders and the now-defunct Rajkot franchise.
During his playing days, he was the first Zimbabwe cricketer to claim 100 wickets in both Tests and ODIs. He is also the only cricketer from the country to complete the double of 100 Test wickets and 1000 Test runs and the only one from the country to score 2000 runs and claim 200 wickets in ODIs. Streak made his Test and ODI debut in 1993 and was appointed as the captain of the side in the 1999-2000 season.
