'Very much alive’: Heath Streak debunks death rumours

Hours after announcing Zimbabwe cricketer Heath Streak’s death on X (formerly Twitter), his former teammate Henry Olonga said in a second post that the legend is alive.

Olonga said in his new post that “rumours of Streak’s death were greatly exaggerated” and that he had heard from him.

In the conversation, Streak affirmed that he is “alive and well” and politely asked Henry to remove the earlier update regarding his supposed demise.

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

— Henry Olonga (@henryolonga) August 23, 2023

Earlier taking to X, Oleaga wrote: “Sad news coming through that Heath Streak has crossed to the other side. RIP Zimbabwe cricket legend.”

“The greatest all-rounder we produced. It was a pleasure playing with you.”

The all-rounder is the all-time leading test wicket-taker for his country. He took 216 wickets and scored 1,990 runs in 65 tests between 1993-2005. He also played in 189 one-day internationals, scoring 2,943 runs and taking 239 wickets.

In 2021 he was given an eight-year ban from the sport after admitting breaches of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption code. He took “full responsibility” for his actions but said he was never involved in any attempts to fix matches.

Streak, who was diagnosed with colon and liver cancer, saw his condition deteriorate in May, prompting his family to hospitalise him immediately.