New Delhi: Hours after several reports of the death of legendary Zimbabwean cricketer Heath Streak, a Twitter account named after former Zimbabwean fast bowler Henry Olonga has released a new tweet dismissing the reports and stating that the cricketer is alive. The same account reported a few hours earlier that Streak had died.
Olonga Tweets Streak is not dead
“I can confirm that the rumors of Heath Streak’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Just heard about him. The third umpire called him back. He is very much alive,” he tweeted at 10:27 am IST.
Earlier at 2.39 am, Olonga tweeted: “Sad news Heath Streak has passed on. RIP @ZimCricketv legend.” However, he deleted this tweet from the microblogging site.
Streak confirms he is alive
According to the latest report from Sportstar, Streak was at home in Zimbabwe when he heard reports of his “death”. As word spread and tributes poured in from around the world, Streak confirmed to an Indian sports magazine that he was ‘fit and recovering from cancer’.
“People should be a little more careful before spreading such rumours. I am better now and recovering from cancer,” he told Sportstar. Although there have been several reports on social media about Streak’s death, it is advised to wait for an official word from Streak’s family, the Zimbabwe Cricket Council and the International Cricket Council Council (ICC), or another official source. Until then we hope and pray that the legendary multiple wagons would do well.
Streak’s career
Streak is one of the finest cricketers of his time, representing Zimbabwe in 65 Tests, and 189 ODIs, while scoring 4933 runs and taking 455 wickets for his country across all formats. Streak is the only Zimbabwean player to date to achieve the double feat of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in Tests and 2000 runs and 200 wickets in ODIs. His many records continue to inspire cricketers not only in Zimbabwe but around the world.