Heath Streak’s teammate Henry Olonga reveals how memories of Shane Warne and Andrew Symonds prompted him to wrongly tell the world the cricketer had died aged 49

Former Zimbabwean cricketer Henry Olonga has shed light on his premature announcement of Heath Streak’s death, revealing that three separate sources indicated the latter had died.

The cricketing world was shocked after Olonga announced on Wednesday that the 49-year-old had died of cancer, before making a spectacular U-turn, confirming Streak was alive and well.

Olonga said he first read about Streak’s death on a Zimbabwean sports forum on Facebook before attempting to contact the former Test cricketer and his family.

He reportedly received no response and was subsequently told by a former teammate that Streak had died. When a tribute from one of Streak’s friends appeared online, Olonga felt he had no reason to doubt the veracity of the news.

Speaking to ABC Radio Adelaide on Thursday, Olonga said reading the tribute brought back memories of the reaction to the deaths of Rod Marsh, Shane Warne and Andrew Symonds last year.

“I hated that, and all the feelings we felt last year when Symonds, Marsh and Warnie died all came back,” said Olonga, who played 30 Test matches for Zimbabwe.

“I thought, ‘Obviously it’s official now, I’m getting confirmation from three sources,’ so I posted my own tributes, a few photos (…) and reminisced about some of our great moments on the team.

“I did do my due diligence—I’m not a journalist, but I did some fact-checking.”

Olonga, who lives in Australia after being forced into exile for protesting Robert Mugabe’s government, wrote on social media: “Sad news arrives that Heath Streak has crossed over to the other side,” he wrote on X – the social media platform formerly known. like Twitter.

‘RIP legend (Zimbabwean cricket). The best all-rounder we’ve produced. It was a pleasure to play with you.

“See you on the other side when my bowling spell ends.”

Soon after, however, Olonga quickly changed its tune.

“I can confirm that the rumors of Heath Streak’s demise have been greatly exaggerated,” he wrote.

‘I just heard from him. The third referee has called him back. He’s very much alive, folks.’

On Wednesday, Streak said he was “very upset and hurt” by the rumors of his death.

“It is a total rumor and a lie. I am alive and well,” he told Indian Outlet Halfway through the day in response to the rumors of his death.

“I am very angry to learn that something as big as someone seemingly dying can be spread out of control, especially in our age of social media.”

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

“For the family, it must have been horrible for them to wake up and get millions of messages on their phones asking if Heath is dead or alive, if it’s true or whatever, so I have complete sympathy for them.” , he said.

‘Obviously we made a terrible mistake there; that was not true.’

And Olonga admitted that the incident was a stark reminder of the pitfalls of social media.

“I’m in the thick of it, not because I started it — I wasn’t the first person to put it out there — but somehow my posts got some attention on social media,” he said.

“I suppose it serves as a fleeting warning to people to be absolutely sure of the facts.”

Streak is one of Zimbabwe’s best ever cricketers and was the first player from his country to take 100 wickets.

He played 65 Tests and 189 one-day internationals for Zimbabwe, captaining them between 2000 and 2004.

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

Streak was battling cancer earlier this year and was being treated in South Africa.

“He’s pretty sick right now, he’s battling stage four cancer,” Olonga said.