Zimbabwe cricket legend and former Captain Heath Streak dies at age of the 49 after fighting a prolonged battle with Cancer. He was undergoing treatment in South Africa according to his close friends and family.Streak had a long-standing career of 12 years where he led the Zimbabwe cricket team between 2000 and 2004 and remains the only cricketer from his country to take 100 Test wickets.Steakss former bowling partner, Henry Olga, and long-time teammate and current captain of the Zimbabwe Cricket team Sean Williams took to social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) to give their condolences and express their grief on losing a friend. However, there is yet to be any official statement from Steaks family.Former cricketer from New Zealand, Scott Bernardo Styris also expressed his sadness over the death of the Zimbabwe cricket legend. “Sad news coming through that Heath Streak has crossed to the other side. RIP @ZimCricketv legend. The greatest all-rounder we produced. It was a pleasure playing with you. See you on the other side when my bowling spell comes to an end,” said Olonga.Sad news coming through that Heath Streak has crossed to the other side. RIP @ZimCricketv legend. The greatest all rounder we produced. It was a pleasure playing with you. See you on the other side when my bowling spell comes to an end…😔— Henry Olonga (@henryolonga) August 22, 2023“Streaky. No words can explain what you and your family have done for mine and many others Our hearts our broken you leave behind a beautiful family and a legacy for us to live up to! You will b missed we love you dearly Rest in peace Streaky,” wrote Sean Williams.Streaky 🥲No words can explain what you and your family have done for mine and many othersOur hearts our broken you leave behind a beautiful family and a legacy for us to live up to! You will be missed we love you dearly Rest in peace streaky 💔 pic.twitter.com/2sXz4WNqu7— Sean Williams (@sean14williams) August 22, 2023 “Goodbye my friend. I consider it an honour and a privilege to have shared the field with you as a teammate and an opponent. Rest easy #RIPStreaky,” said Styris.Goodbye my friend. I consider it an honour and a privilege to have shared the field with you as a teammate and an opponent. Rest easy #RIPStreaky pic.twitter.com/9TVoCC71ek— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris) August 22, 2023Streaks career over the yearsStreaks career began in 1993 when debuted against Pakistan. This match made him swiftly establish himself as he took eight wickets in his second Test in Rawalpindi.He was one of the most celebrated Zimbabwe sportspersons throughout the 1990s and 2000s and represented the country in 65 tests and 189 ODIs.He is also the only cricketer from Zimbabwe to complete a double of 100 Test wickets and 1000 Test runs and the only one from the country to score 2000 runs and claim 200 wickets in ODIs. Heath is the first one from his country to claim 100 wickets in both Tests and ODIs.He opted for retirement in 2005 after his stint as captain of Warwickshire under a two-year contract in 2006 ended prematurely due to issues with his form. In 2007, he signed up for the Indian Cricket League (ICL), which marked the end of his international cricket journey.Streak was also appointed as the Captain of the side in 2000 and has amassed 2,943 runs and 239 wickets to his credit in white-ball cricket. Following his retirement from the sport Heath went on to coach the national teams and also international teams such as Scotland and Bangladesh.He also coached Indian IPL teams such as Gujrat Lions and Kolkata Night Riders.However, in 2021 Streaks career was put at stake when he was expelled from the sport after it was discovered that he had violated the anti-corruption guidelines of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and was banned for eight years. Despite this setback, Heath has remained a celebrated personality in the world of Cricket and his loss is deeply felt by fans all over the world.
