Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak passes away at 49

Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak passed away at the age of 49 in the early hours of Sunday, September 3, following a long battle with colon and liver cancer.

The tragic news was confirmed by his wife through a post on the social media platform Facebook.

“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.

He was covered in love and peace and did not walk off the Park alone. Our souls are joined for eternity Streaky. Till I hold you again,” she wrote.

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

Heath Streak was arguably the best all-rounder to play for Zimbabwe.

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.

Heath Streak has also served as the head coach of Zimbabwe, as well as the bowling coach of Bangladesh and two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winners Kolkata Knight Riders.

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.