Heath Streak Age, Death, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Heath Streak

• Heath Streak was a former Zimbabwean cricketer and cricket coach who played for and captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He was known for being the best bowler to have played for Zimbabwe. He was a Zimbabwe Test and ODI cricketer from 1993 to 2005, during which he played 65 Tests and 189 ODIs. From 2000 to 2004, he was the Test captain of Zimbabwe. He held the record for the most wickets ever taken by a Zimbabwean player in Test cricket with 216 wickets and in One Day International (ODI) cricket with 239 wickets. In domestic cricket, he played for Warwickshire County from 2004 to 2007. He coached the Zimbabwe men’s team from 2009 to 2013 and from 2016 to 2018. In April 2021, he was handed an eight-year ban for breaching the ICC anti-corruption code. On 23 August 2023, it was reported that Streak had died of cancer, however, former teammate Henry Olonga soon confirmed that Streak was alive.

• He was born into a family whose background primarily involved ranching in Bulawayo. After Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, Robert Mugabe became the first black president. At first, things went well, especially in farming. Zimbabwe used to be called “Africa’s breadbasket” because it produced a lot of food. In 2000, the Mugabe government started taking land from white farmers and giving it to black people in a land reform program. The Streaks, who were white farmers, lost more than 70% of their land in the land reform program. Their farm, which they started in 1996, used to cover 40,000 acres of land near Bulawayo and had over 600 cattle. Eventually, they were left with only 12,000 acres of land. They didn’t like it at first, but later they understood why it had to happen and that they had to give up some of their wealth.

• Growing up, he was introduced to cricket by his father, Denis Streak, a first-class cricketer who played for Zimbabwe when it was still called Rhodesia.

• Streak’s passion for cricket was fueled by his grandmother who lived in Australia. She would send him video recordings of the Kerry Packer Series, a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979. He talked about the same in an interview and said,
  

  I watched a lot of the Packer Series as a youngster. My grandmother lived in Australia and she used to send me lots of video recordings of all the games. Channel Nine. I grew up watching the Lillees, the Thomsons, Imran Khan, Hadlee, Marshall. They were my inspirations.”

• At school, he received training from the ex-Test player Bob Blair, who had played for New Zealand. Later, he received coaching from Rodney Hogg and Bruce Reid.

• In the early 1990s, Heath Streak got married to Nadine Streak. Together, they had three children, a son, Kevin, and two daughters, Holly and Charlotte. The couple has an adoptive son, Harry. Holly is married to Sam Cook.

• Streak made his first-class debut for Zimbabwe B on 30 March 1993 in a match against Kent County Cricket Team at Harare Sports Club. He also played his first List A match around the same time.

• Streak made his Test debut against Pakistan on 1 December 1993. He gained recognition in international cricket by claiming 8 wickets during the 2nd Test in Rawalpindi (December 9-14, 1993). Streak’s remarkable performance with the ball, securing a total of 22 wickets at an average of 13.54, earned him the Player of the Series award in his debut test series. This achievement also marked the highest number of wickets taken by a Zimbabwean bowler in a test series.
  

  Heath Streak bowling for Zimbabwe

• In 1995, during Pakistan’s visit to Zimbabwe, Streak bettered his best bowling figures when he took 6 wickets for 90 runs in the first Test at Harare. This impressive performance helped Zimbabwe win the match by an inning.

• On 13 January  1996, in a Test match against New Zealand in Hamilton, he became the fastest Zimbabwean bowler to reach 50 Test wickets, achieving this in just 11 matches.

• He played in his first-ever World Cup in the 1996 Cricket World Cup.

• In 1995/96, Streak played for the Matabeleland team alongside his 46-year-old father, Denis, in the final of the Lonrho Logan Cup against Mashonaland Country Districts. This was the first time in over thirty years that a father and son played together in the same professional cricket match. Together, they helped their team win the Lonrho Logan Cup by defeating the Mashonaland Country Districts team.

• He was also a member of Zimbabwe’s squad that finished fifth in the men’s cricket competition at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

• Streak was in the Zimbabwean team that won its first Test match against Pakistan on Pakistani soil in 1998.

• He was also part of the Zimbabwean team that reached the Super Sixes stage for the first time in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. One of the highlights of Streak’s career was Zimbabwe’s victory against South Africa in the 1999 World Cup.

• On 11 June 1999, he became the first as well as the fastest Zimbabwean bowler to take 100 ODI wickets.

• In 2000, he was appointed as the captain of the Zimbabwe side for both test and ODI formats.

• In the 2000/2001 season, he received two prestigious Man of the Series awards. First, during Zimbabwe’s tour of England, and then again during Bangladesh’s tour of Zimbabwe.

• In 2000, Streak made history once more as the first Zimbabwean test player to secure a place on the renowned Lord’s Honours board for his impressive performance, which yielded figures of 6-87 against England.
  

  Heath Streak during a match

• Under his captaincy, Zimbabwe delivered an upset victory against India in a test match in 2001 at home. Zimbabwe had its first-ever test win against India by four wickets.

• During the 2001 Australia Tri-series, his bowling performance of 4/8 in a One Day International (ODI) against West Indies played a pivotal role in Zimbabwe’s 47-run victory in a low-scoring game.

• On 4 February 2001, he achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first Zimbabwean bowler to reach 150 ODI wickets during a match against Australia.

• In July 2001, during a Test match against West Indies in Harare, Streak and Andy Blignaut formed the highest seventh-wicket partnership for Zimbabwe in Test cricket, amassing 154 runs.

• On 7 October 2001, in a match against England, his partnership with Andy Flower led to setting the highest seventh-wicket partnership for Zimbabwe in ODIs, with a total of 130 runs.

• During his time as captain, he had disputes with the cricket board overpayment and player quotas, which led to his resignation from the captaincy in 2001. However, he was reappointed as captain in 2002, following which he was again under scanner and spotlight in the wake of Zimbabwe’s political crisis.

• He led the Zimbabwean team in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy and the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy.

• He also captained the team in the 2003 World Cup, which was spoiled by political unrest in Zimbabwe.

• On 23 June 2003, he became the first Zimbabwean bowler to claim 200 ODI wickets during a match against England.

• In 2004, Streak joined the Warwickshire County Cricket team. On 8 July 2004, he made his debut in the T20 format for Warwickshire, playing against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, Wales.
  

  Heath Streak playing for Warwickshire

• With 1990 runs in Test matches and 2934 runs in ODIs, he was considered the most successful Test skipper and the second-most successful captain of Zimbabwe in ODIs.

• In 2004, thirteen players, including captain Heath Streak, decided not to participate in the one-day and test series due to a disagreement about team selection. This rebellion by the players happened because the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) had announced that Streak had quit cricket. The ZCU claimed that he resigned because the board did not agree with his demand regarding the composition of the selectors’ group. However, Streak’s father denied that his son had actually resigned. Streak was unexpectedly sacked from the team by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union because he was involved in rebellious actions. Tatenda Taibu took over his role as the captain.

• In the same year, Streak made headlines for revealing that he was facing ethical dilemmas as the captain of Zimbabwe. He said that he had received instruction to falsely inform white players that they lacked talent and were to be replaced by black players. ^[5]The Guardian

• After a one-year absence from international cricket, Streak returned to represent Zimbabwe in March 2005. However, ongoing conflicts within Zimbabwean cricket led Streak to end his international cricket career in October 2005 when he chose to become the captain of Warwickshire on a two-year contract starting in 2006. Even though Zimbabwe Cricket offered him a new contract, he declined it. However, in 2007, Streak resigned from his position as Warwickshire’s captain after participating in just one Championship match that season. He mentioned that being the captain was impacting his individual performance. Darren Maddy took over his role as captain.

• In 2007, he represented the Ahmedabad Rockets in the controversial Indian Cricket League (ICL). This league didn’t have the approval of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the International Cricket Council. As a result, the BCCI imposed bans on all players involved in the ICL, leading to the league’s closure in 2009.
  

  Heath Streak after bowling Paul Nixon in the final over in Ahmedabad Rockets v Delhi Giants in Hyderabad during ICL on 12 October 2008

• In August 2009, Streak took on the role of the bowling coach for the Zimbabwe national cricket team. Under his guidance, fast bowlers such as Kyle Jarvis, Christopher Mpofu, Brian Vitori, and Shingirai Masakadza received coaching and development. These players later became regular members of Zimbabwe’s national team. In May 2014, he was hired as Bangladesh’s bowling coach on a two-year contract that lasted until 2016.

• In 2014, he started the Heath Streak Academy (also known as Old Mutual Heath Streak Cricket Academy Trust). Its goal was to help cricket grow and improve in Zimbabwe. However, in 2021, he stepped down as the head of the Trust because the International Cricket Council (ICC) banned him from cricket for eight years. Afterwards, they changed the academy’s name to the Zimbabwe Youth Cricket Academy.

• In July 2016, he took on the role of a consultant at the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association Academy.

• In October 2016, Streak replaced Dav Whatmore as the head coach of the Zimbabwe national cricket team.

• During Streak’s coaching tenure, Zimbabwe didn’t perform well, and they couldn’t qualify for the 2019 World Cup after a disappointing showing in the 2018 ICC World Cup Qualifier. As a result, Streak was compelled to resign in early 2018, and the entire coaching staff was dismissed by the board.

• In the aftermath of Zimbabwe’s disqualification from the 2019 World Cup, the chairman of ZC, Tavengwa Mukuhlani, said that Streak was being racist when talking to reporters from Daily News and NBC. As a result, Streak filed a lawsuit against Mukuhlani, asking for $1 million because he believed Mukuhlani’s comments harmed his reputation. ^[6]PressReader- The Herald

• On 20 September 2018, Streak submitted an application to the High Court in Harare asking for Zimbabwe Cricket to be liquidated in order for it to pay its debts. He accused the board of “illegally” terminating his contract and those of his coaching staff. He claimed that the organisation was being run in a “reckless and negligent manner,” and demanded it to be declared insolvent. The application listed detailed the money owed to him and the other staff members, who were all dismissed following their failed World Cup qualifying campaign in March.

• He served as a bowling coach for the Gujarat Lions franchise in the 2016 and 2017 IPL seasons.
  

  Heath Streak (right) with James Faulkner during his coaching stint with now-defunct IPL franchise Gujarat Lions during IPL 2016

• In 2018, he was appointed as a consultant for the Scotland cricket team for two matches in a T20I tri-series that involved Ireland and Netherlands.

• In 2019, he briefly worked as a consultant bowling coach for Somerset County Cricket Club.

• In 2021, Kolkata Knight Riders brought Streak on board as their bowling coach.

• In the same year, Streak was banned from all cricketing activities for eight years after he breached the ICC’s anti-corruption policies.

•  After retiring from cricket, Heath Streak worked on his family’s farming and safari business, The Robins Farms and Enthokozweni Safaris.

• Streak isn’t involved in politics much. He never criticises the governments of Robert Mugabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa for Zimbabwe’s political turmoil. He didn’t even join Andy Flower and Henry Olonga when they protested against the decline of democracy in Zimbabwe by wearing black armbands during the 2003 World Cup. In fact, he only learned about their plan on the morning of the match, after the game had already begun.

• On 13 May 2023, a Zimbabwean senator named David Coltart revealed that Streak was very sick. Many news outlets said that Streak had been diagnosed with Stage 4 colon and liver cancer, and his condition was very critical. On 22 August 2023, rumours of Streak’s death surfaced on the internet when Zimbabwean cricketer Henry Olonga tweeted,
  

  Sad news coming through that Heath Streak has crossed to the other side. RIP Zimbabwe cricket legend”

• Hours later, Olonga posted another tweet confirming that Streak was alive and well. She tweeted,

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

• Streak occasionally consumed alcoholic beverages.
  

  Heath Streak with his daughters, enjoying a bottle of beer