Former Zimbabwe cricket captain Heath Streak, who represented his country in 65 Tests and 189 ODIs from 1993 to 2005, has passed away at the age of 49 after a prolonged battle with liver cancer. The news of his passing was confirmed by his family through social media.
In a heartfelt post on Facebook, Streak’s wife Nadine shared, “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.”
Former Zimbabwe fast bowler Henry Olonga initially announced Streak’s demise on social media, but later retracted the statement after receiving a message from his captain. Nevertheless, condolences poured in from numerous former cricketers.
Streak was a prominent figure in Zimbabwean cricket, amassing 216 Test wickets and scoring one century and 11 half-centuries. In ODIs, he claimed 239 wickets and scored 2,943 runs with 13 fifties, making him the leading wicket-taker for Zimbabwe in both formats.
During his captaincy, Zimbabwe faced challenges, winning 18 out of 68 ODIs and four out of 21 Tests under his leadership. Streak’s departure from the captaincy in 2004 came during a difficult period for the team.
Following his playing career, Streak transitioned into coaching, working with teams like Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and various Indian domestic and IPL teams. He became Zimbabwe’s head coach in 2016 but couldn’t guide them to qualification for the 2019 World Cup.
In a significant turn of events, in April 2021, Streak received an eight-year ban from the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the ICC anti-corruption code. He admitted to five code violations, including receiving payment in bitcoins from a potential corruptor, though he maintained that he wasn’t involved in match-fixing.
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