Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak dies aged 49

Bengaluru — Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak has died of colon and liver cancer at the age of 49, ESPNcricinfo reported on Sunday.

Streak was the all-time leading Test wicket-taker for his country, taking 216 wickets and scoring 1,990 runs in 65 Tests between 1993-2005.

He had been undergoing treatment in Johannesburg.

“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,” his wife, Nadine, wrote on social media.

Streak made his international debut as a 19-year-old in an abandoned match against SA in Bengaluru during the 1993 Hero Cup, a five-team tournament played in India. Coincidentally, one of the umpires in Streak's debut game — Piloo Reporter — also died on September 3 in Mumbai at the age of 84.

Streak also got his Test cap that year, against Pakistan in Karachi, and took eight wickets in the next match in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan would become something of a favourite opponent. He took more Test wickets — 44 — against them than any other team, including three of his seven five-fors.

He made his first Test fifty in his ninth Test, against SA, and it would be followed by 10 more. His only Test century came against West Indies, in Harare in 2003.

After making his debut, Streak played in all eight Tests that Zimbabwe won over the course of his career. He was a mainstay of the ODI side and played in three World Cups — in 1996, 1999 and 2003 — and took 3/36 and 3/35 in their wins over India and SA in the 1999 tournament in England.

Streak became Zimbabwe captain in 2000, but it proved a tumultuous tenure.

In 2001, he resigned for the first time, officially citing the effect of leadership on his performance. Behind the scenes, politics was rife in the country and Streak was in the crosshairs.

Streak was appointed Zimbabwe’s bowling coach after his retirement, followed by spells with Bangladesh and twice Indian Premier League champions Kolkata Knight Riders.

He returned to coach Zimbabwe in 2016 but resigned after his team failed to qualify for the 2019 World Cup.

In 2021, he was banned for eight years after being charged with — and admitting to — five breaches of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption code, including accepting payment in bitcoins from a potential corruptor.

However, he later said he was not involved in any attempts to fix matches, but admitted to disclosing inside information pertaining to international matches.

As such, he was serving his ban at the time of his death. Streak would have been 57 at the time the ban ended and had expressed doubts on whether he would be able to return to having a role in the game. He was understood to be considering appealing against the length of his ban before he took ill.

Reuters