Heath Streak, the former captain of Zimbabwe and one of their best cricket players ever, died after a long fight with cancer. He was 49 years old.
Streak led Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2004, during which time he played 65 Tests and 189 ODIs. He is still the only player from his country to have taken 100 wickets in a Test, and during his 12-year career, he often carried a weak bowling unit on his own.
Even though he is best known for his fast bowling, Streak also batted for his team in the middle order and scored a total of 1990 Test runs and 2943 ODI runs over the course of his career. In Harare, against the West Indies, he got his first and only Test hundred (127*).
His debut against Pakistan in 1993 was the start of his rapid rise, and he made a name for himself in his second Test in Rawalpindi, where he took eight wickets after his debut in Karachi, where he didn’t get any.
Streak retired in 2005 and signed a two-year deal to be Warwickshire’s captain in 2006. However, his time as captain was cut short because of problems with his own health. Then, in 2007, he joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL), which meant that his international career was over.
Streak’s coaching journey took him to Zimbabwe, Scotland, Bangladesh, Gujarat Lions, and Kolkata Knight Riders, where he had different jobs with each team. But his reputation took a sad turn when the ICC banned him for eight years for breaking rules against corruption.
