Former Zimbabwe cricketer Heath Streak in bizarre rumour about his death

Zimbabwe cricket on Tuesday dealt with a strange incident as a former player announced the death of domestic veteran Heath Streak, before the story was debunked.

Retired fast bowler Henry Olonga announced on X, formerly Twitter, that his former captain had passed away.

However, the cricketer later withdrew his announcement after interacting with Streak, who has been undergoing treatment for cancer.

“People should be a bit more careful before spreading such rumours. I am better now and recovering from cancer,” Streak was quoted as saying by Sportstar. “I am at home and obviously there’s still a bit of strain because of the treatment. But otherwise I am fine."

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. pic.twitter.com/LQs6bcjWSB

Streak was one of the best all-rounders of his generation. Post-retirement Streak served as Bangladesh coach and was the bowling coach of IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders.

However, in 2021 Streak was handed a eight-year ban from the sport after he accepted a variety of charges of breaching cricket’s anti-corruption code.

The charges included “disclosing inside information” related to a variety of series in 2017 and 2018, “in circumstances where he knew or should have known that such information may be used for betting purposes”.

The instances include matches in the 2017 Bangladesh Premier League, the 2018 Pakistan Super League, the 2018 IPL and the 2018 Afghanistan Premier League.