"Heath Streak is alive": Reports of former Zimbabwe captain's death are false

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• Aug 23, 2023 | Dhupali Das

Former Zimbabwe cricketer Heath Streak's death turned out to be a fake after his former teammate...

Digital Desk: Former Zimbabwe cricketer Heath Streak's death turned out to be a fake after his former teammate Henry Olonga confirmed that the 49-year-old is still alive.

Revealing that they had a talk, Olonga wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "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."

In fact, it was Olonga who broke the news of Streak's death on social media.

"Sad news coming through that Heath Streak has crossed to the other side. RIP legend. The greatest all-rounder we produced. It was a pleasure playing with you. See you on the other side when my bowling spell comes to an end," he had written.

Streak is receiving treatment from one of South Africa's most renowned oncologists, his family revealed in May.

Streak retired from professional cricket in 2005 after scoring 1990 runs at an average of 22.35 and taking 216 wickets at an average of 28.14 in Test cricket.

In white-ball cricket, Heath scored 2,943 runs and claimed 239 wickets.

However, Streak was removed from the sport in 2021 after it was discovered that he violated the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption guidelines.

He also coached several teams at the domestic and international levels, including Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, and the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Streak captained Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2004, playing in 65 Tests and 189 One-Day Internationals.