Cricket legend and ex-Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak dies aged 49 after cancer battle, his wife confirms in emotional post

Former Zimbabwean cricketer Heath Streak has died at the age of 49 after a battle with cancer.

Steak’s wife Nadine confirmed the news in an emotional post on social media.

“In the early hours of this morning, Sunday, September 3, 2023, the greatest love of my life and father of my beautiful children was carried from his home to the angels, where he wished to spend his last days surrounded by his family and near loved ones” , she wrote on Facebook.

He was covered in love and peace and didn’t just walk out of the park.

‘Our souls are bound for eternity, Spekkie. Until I hold you again.’

Streak was battling cancer earlier this year and received specialist treatment at a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The confirmation of Streak’s death comes weeks after he said he was “very upset and hurt” by the rumors of his passing.

One of Streak’s former teammates, Henry Olonga, announced last month that Streak had died before making a spectacular U-turn.

Olonga admitted that the “very unfortunate” incident must have been devastating to Streak’s family and friends.

The former fast bowler was one of Zimbabwe’s best ever cricketers and was the first player from his country to take 100 wickets.

Streak played 65 Tests and 189 one-day internationals for Zimbabwe, where he was captain between 2000 and 2004.

He scored 4,933 international runs, hit a lone century against the West Indies at Harare, and took 445 wickets.

In 2021, he was banned from cricket for eight years after admitting to several breaches of the ICC’s anti-corruption code.

Streak accepted five charges and his sentence at the ICC in lieu of a hearing at the anti-corruption tribunal and was barred from any involvement in the sport until March 2029.

The ex-bowler was under ICC investigation into an extensive list of international and Twenty20 league appearances during his post-playing career as a coach, including for Zimbabwe between 2016 and 2018.

The ICC investigation revealed that Streak communicated with an Indian man named ‘Mr X’ during his time coaching Zimbabwe and in T20 leagues in Asia, the BBC said.

He passed on information about matches and also the contact details of players, including the captain of a national team.

Streak accepted the ICC’s ban, but denied the match-fixing claims made against him.