'Hurt' Heath Streak Slams 'Source' For His Death Rumour, Seeks Apology

Rubbishing the rumours of his death, Zimbabwe legend Heath Streak has confirmed that he is well and alive. The cricketing world was left stunned after rumours of his death started doing the rounds. Tributes started pouring in from all the quarters as soon as the reports of Heath Streak’s death emerged.

Heath Streak’s former teammate Henry Olonga was the first to announce that his ex-teammate had died of cancer aged 49. He took to X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday (August 23) to pay tribute to his nation’s ‘greatest allrounder’.

“Sad news coming through that Heath Streak has crossed to the other side. RIP legend. The greatest all-rounder we produced. It was a pleasure playing with you. See you on the other side when my bowling spell comes to an end,” wrote Olonga.

However, it did not take Olonga long to backtrack on his post as he confirmed that Heath Streak is alive. He shared a screenshot of a message sent to him by Heath Streak after the reports of his death.

“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,” wrote Olonga.

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

Heath Streak reacts to death rumours:

Heath Streak has stated that he is hurt by the rumours of his death and sought an apology. Talking to the media, the Zimbabwe great rubbished the rumours and said that he is ‘very upset’ over the rumour being spread without any verification.

“It is a total rumour and a lie. I’m alive and well. I am very upset to learn that something as big as someone apparently passing can be spread unverified, especially in our day and age of social media,” Heath Streak was quoted as saying by Mid-Day.

“I believe the source should apologise. I am hurt by the news,” he added.

Heath Streak is one of Zimbabwe’s most decorated cricketers. He represented the African country from 1993 to 2005 and retired from international cricket at the age of 31. He is still the only cricketer from his country with more than 100 Test and over 200 ODI wickets.

In Tests, he played 65 matches and picked up 216 wickets with an economy of 2.69. In the ODI format, Streak represented his country in 189 matches and took 239 wickets. With the bat, he scored 1990 runs in Tests and 2934 runs in ODIs.