Heath Streak

Heath Hilton Streak (16 March 1974 – 3 September 2023) was a Zimbabwean cricketer and cricket coach who played for and captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team.

He was the all time leading wicket taker for Zimbabwe in Test cricket with 216 wickets and in ODI cricket with 239 wickets.

Streak remains the only Zimbabwean cricketer to have taken over 100 Test wickets and completed the double of 2,000 runs and 200 wickets in ODIs.

He was also one of only four Zimbabwean bowlers to have taken over 100 ODI wickets.

He holds the record for the most five-wicket hauls by a Zimbabwean in Tests, having achieved the feat seven times.

Streak made his first-class debut for Zimbabwe B against the touring Kent team on 30 March 1993 at Harare Sports Club.

Streak made his ODI debut on 10 November 1993 against South Africa.

A month later, he made his test debut in Zimbabwe's tour of Pakistan 1993/1994 (on 1 December 1993).

He made his mark in international cricket by taking 8 wickets in the 2nd Test at Rawalpindi (9–14 December 1993).

Streak won the Player of the series award on his debut test series for his impressive performance with the ball taking 22 wickets at an average of 13.54.

It is also the most number of wickets taken by a Zimbabwean bowler in a test series.

In 1995/96, Streak played in the same Matabeleland team as his 46-year-old father Denis in the final of the Lonrho Logan Cup against Mashonaland Country Districts; this was the first instance of a father and son playing in the same first-class match for more than thirty years.

Streak bettered his best bowling figures in 1995 when Pakistan toured Zimbabwe, taking 6/90 in the first Test at Harare which Zimbabwe won by an innings.

Matabeleland eventually crowned as champions of the 1996 Logan Cup.

On 13 January 1996 in a test match against New Zealand at Hamilton, he became the fastest Zimbabwean bowler to take 50 test wickets in 11 matches.

His debut World Cup appearance came during the 1996 Cricket World Cup and was part of Zimbabwe team which reached super sixes stage for the first time during the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

Streak was part of the 'golden era' of Zimbabwe cricket between 1997 and 2002.

His relationship with Zimbabwe Cricket soured on several occasions during his international career, as well as during his coaching career.

He was also part of Zimbabwe side which secured first test win against Pakistan in Pakistan soil in 1998.

He was also part of the Zimbabwean side which finished fifth at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in men's cricket competition and was part of the Zimbabwean side which played in the preliminary match against New Zealand in the inaugural edition of the ICC Champions Trophy in 1998.

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

Streak claimed in an interview in The Observer that he was faced with moral challenges in captaining Zimbabwe.

He said that he was asked to falsely tell white players that they were not talented enough and were to be replaced by black players.

In 2000/2001, he won 2-man of the series awards, first in Zimbabwe's tour of England and then in Bangladesh's tour of Zimbabwe.

In a test match in 2000 against England at Lord's, he picked up 6/87 and became the first and only Zimbabwean to take a fifer at Lord's. He is also the only Zimbabwean to be on the Lord's honours boards.

During his playing days, he used to carry the most weakened and fragile bowling attack of Zimbabwe single-handedly.

He also possessed the ability to extract lateral seam movement on the most docile of the pitches.

Streak was appointed as the captain of Zimbabwe side in 2000 for both test and ODI formats.

He made his T20 debut representing Warwickshire against Glamorgan on 8 July 2004.

Streak was appointed the captain of Warwickshire in 2006 after signing a two-year contract.

However, on 25 April 2007, Streak resigned as Warwickshire captain after featuring in just one match in the 2007 county season, indicating that captaining the side was affecting his on field abilities.

He was replaced as captain by Darren Maddy.

At the end of the 2007 season, he left Warwickshire citing family reasons.

At the end of the year of 2007, Streak joined the Ahmedabad Rockets in the controversial Indian Cricket League which ultimately ended his international career.

In September 2018, Streak submitted an application to the court to have Zimbabwe Cricket liquidated in relation to outstanding debts.

In April 2021, Streak was handed an eight-year ban by the ICC for corruption.

Streak was born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and hailed from a family whose background primarily involved ranching in Bulawayo.

He completed his education at the Rhodes Estate Preparatory School and Falcon College.

His father, Denis Streak, was also a first-class cricketer.

He held a junior hunter's licence prior to becoming a professional cricketer.