Zimbabwe all-rounder Heath Streak is NOT dead

Former Zimbabwe all-rounder Heath Streak is NOT dead, contrary to reports on Tuesday morning that the 49-year-old had passed away.

Streak has set the record straight after former Zimbabwe team-mate Henry Olonga shared on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that Streakr had died.

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The message read: “Sad news coming through that Heath Streak has crossed to the other side. RIP Zimbabwe cricket legend,”

“The greatest all-rounder we produced. It was a pleasure playing with you.”

HEATH STREAK IS FIGHTING CANCER

However, shortly thereafter, Olonga posted on X that Streak was ‘very much alive’, after Streak responded to a WhatsApp message with ‘Very much alive, pse (please) revert this run-out IMMEDIATELY buddy’

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Olonga wrote: “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.“

https://twitter.com/henryolonga/status/1694212344732357101?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1694212344732357101%7Ctwgr%5E31f0b42ef209189b409019d8dfabb16f23012120%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesouthafrican.com%2Fsport%2Fcricket%2Fzimbabwe-all-rounder-heath-streak-is-not-dead-fake-news-breaking-23-august-2023%2F

Earlier reports said that Streak had succumbed to cancer having undergone treatment for his illness.

Streak played 65 Tests and 189 ODIs for Zimbabwe, scoring 1 990 and 2 943 runs, respectively.

He took 216 Test wickets and 239 in the ODI format.

He also represented Hampshire and Warwickshire in English county cricket.

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After retiring from international cricket, Streak was appointed Bangladesh coach as well as bowling coach for Indian Premier League side, the Kolkata Knight Riders.

He was also Zimbabwe bowling coach for a period starting in 2009.

Streak also hit the headlines in 2021 after he was given an eight-year ban for admitting to breaches of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption code.

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