Former Zimbabwe captain Streak 'very much alive', after premature reports of his death

Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak, who had been undergoing treatment for cancer, is still alive, his former teammate Henry Olonga said on Wednesday (Aug 23). 

Olonga said on Tuesday that Streak had died at the age of 49, but he later clarified himself on messaging platform X, formerly known as 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," he wrote.

Olonga also posted a screenshot of their text conversation.

All-rounder Streak is the all-time leading test wicket-taker for Zimbabwe. He took 216 wickets and scored 1,990 runs in 65 tests between 1993 to 2005. He also played in 189 one-day internationals, scoring 2,943 runs and taking 239 wickets.

Post-retirement, Streak served as Bangladesh coach and was the bowling coach of twice Indian Premier League champions Kolkata Knight Riders.

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.