Heath Streak death rumors: Legendary all-rounder Heath Streak is 'very much alive' as confirmed by his former Zimbabwean teammate Henry Olonga, who hours after tweeting about his death, has now informed that Streak is indeed alive and well. Contrary to his earlier tweet, Olonga took to messaging platform X (formerly Twitter) to share the update and even posted a screenshot of his recent conversation with Streak on WhatsApp. He stated, "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."
"Sad news coming through that Heath Streak has crossed to the other side. RIP Zimbabwe cricket legend," Olonga had earlier posted on X.
Streak is widely regarded as one of finest all-rounders of all time, appearing for his national team Zimbabwe in 189 ODIs and 65 Tests, collecting 455 wickets and scoring 4933 runs across the two formats.
He became the first cricketer from Zimbabwe to score 2000 runs and take 2000 wickets in ODIs and score 1000 runs and take 100 wickets in Tests. Olonga's latest post on X has finally put an end to the speculations surrounding the apparent death of Heath Streak.
Streak's family had already confirmed in a statement that the former cricketer was battling cancer and undergoing treatment.
"Heath has cancer and is undergoing treatment under one of the most respected oncologists in South Africa," Streak's family said in a statement.
"He remains in good spirits and will continue to fight this disease in a similar vein to that which his opponents faced during his revered days on the cricket field."