Henry Olonga confirms Heath Streak is very much alive
Former Zimbabwe captain sends a message to pacer, dispelling rumours of his death
New Delhi: Former Zimbabwe cricketer Henry Olonga has now retracted his earlier post on X (formerly Twitter) where he had claimed that his long term team mate and Zimbabwe cricketer Heath Streak had passed away. In a fresh post on X, Henry Olonga revealed that he had managed to contact Heath Streak and he was alive.
“I can confirm that rumours of the demise of Heath Streak have been greatly exaggerated. I just heard from him. The third umpire has called him back. He is very much alive folks,” Olonga wrote in his latest tweet.
Dispelling rumours
In an interview to Mid Day newspaper the former Zimbabwe all rounder Streak dispelled the rumours “I am very upset to learn that something as big as someone apparently passing can be spread unverified especially in our day and age of social media”.
Streak has been suffering from a long term illnes and is undergoing medical treatment in Zimbabwe.
The all-rounder Streak was the all-time leading Test wicket-taker for his country. He took 216 wickets and scored 1,990 runs in 65 Tests between 1993-2005. He also played in 189 One-Day Internationals, scoring 2,943 runs and taking 239 wickets.
Earlier post
“Sad news coming through that Heath Streak has crossed to the other side. RIP Zimbabwe cricket legend,” Olonga said on messaging platform X.
“The greatest all-rounder we produced. It was a pleasure playing with you.”
Post-retirement Streak served as Bangladesh coach and was the bowling coach of twice Indian Premier League champions Kolkata Knight Riders.
Eight-year ban
In 2021 he was given an eight-year ban from the sport after admitting breaches of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption code. He took “full responsibility” for his actions but said he was never involved in any attempts to fix matches.
Zimbabwe Test skipper Sean Williams said Streak had left “a legacy for us to live up to”.
“No words can explain what you and your family have done for mine and many others,” Williams said.
“You will be missed we love you dearly. Rest in peace Streaky.” Apart from Williams, India’s premier spinner R Ashwin, VVS Laxman also expressed their sorrow, but deleted their posts after Olonga’s post.