Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak has died at the age of 49 after a prolonged battle with advanced colon and liver cancer. He is survived by his wife, Nadine, and four children.
Nadine posted on social media: “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,”
Streak was Zimbabwe’s biggest cricketing star of the 1990s. He represented his country in 65 Tests, making him their second-most capped Test player, and 189 ODIs between 1993 and 2005. He was the team’s leading bowler, with 216 Test wickets and 239 ODI wickets, and the only Zimbabwe bowler to take more than 100 Test wickets and over 200 ODI wickets. He was also the seventh-highest Test run-scorer, with 1990 runs, and one of 16 Zimbabwe batters to score more than 2000 ODI runs, finishing with 2943.
“This is a very sad day for Zimbabwe and a sad day for cricket as we, on the one hand, mourn the demise of a true great of our beautiful game and, on the other, celebrate the greatness of what Heath gave us: he played with passion, spirit and was nothing less than an inspirational figure who raised our flag high and touched lives within the sport and beyond,” Zimbabwe Cricket chair Tavengwa Mukuhlani said.
At the age of 19, Heath Streak made his international debut with a match against South Africa during the 1993 Hero Cup.
The same year, he played a test match against Pakistan in Karachi, during which he took eight wickets in a match in Rawalpindi.
Streak became the captain of Zimbabwe in 2000 but resigned in 2001 as his leadership had an impact on his performance.
His career as a cricketer was also interfered with by the introduction of quota systems. Hence, selection interference and payment issues led to Streak’s first resignation as captain. He, however, became the captain again in 2002, and the team qualified for 2003 World Cup, where Zimbabwe were co-hosts.
In 2004, Streak resigned as captain for the second time after his friction with the board, resulting in 13 other white players walking out from the national side.
Inexperienced players led to poor results. Streak, being the only one, rejoined following year. He played six Tests and six ODIs (two for Africa XI against Asia XI in August 2005) before retiring from international cricket at the age of 32 in 2005.
Streak then played for Warwickshire and was their captain briefly. He joined Ahmedabad Rockets in Indian Cricket League. He returned to Zimbabwe once again, now as a coach. In 2013, however, Streak’s contract was not renewed.
He coached at domestic union, Matabeleland Tuskers, and founded his own academy, the Heath Streak Academy, in Bulawayo in 2014.
He also found gigs as a bowling coach across the world and had stints with Bangladesh (2014-2016) and Gujarat Lions (in the 2016 and 2017 editions of the IPL). He again returned to Zimbabwe as head coach in 2016. During the 2018 World Cup qualifier held in Zimbabwe, the team lost an important match to the UAE and missed out on the World Cup. Streak and his entire coaching staff were sacked. He went on to have short stints with Scotland, Somerset, and Kolkata Knight Riders.
In 2021, Streak was banned for eight years after being charged with five breaches of the ICC’s anti-corruption code, including accepting payment in bitcoins from a potential corruptor – all of which he admitted. However, he later denied attempts to fix matches but admitted to disclosing inside information in regards to international matches.
