‘Heath Streak is very much alive… rumors of death greatly exaggerated’: Henry Olonga confirms
The former Zimbabwean cricket player, Heath Streak, is still alive. A few hours after Henry Olonga, Streak’s erstwhile teammate, wrote on social media regarding his old captain’s passing, the pace bowler-turned-singer sent out another message denying this.
Olonga posted a screenshot of his apparent WhatsApp chat with Streak, in which the latter stated that he is “very much alive” and asked Henry to remove his earlier update.
“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,” Olonga wrote on X.
Leading Zimbabwean websites and Zimbabwe cricket team captain Sean Williams were among the first to spread the untruth of Streak’s death. Several other cricketers, notably India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, then followed suit. Alongside him were celebrities like Anil Kumble, Virender Sehwag, and VVS Laxman. The Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad of the Indian Premier League also sent their condolences. Afterward, all of them removed their posts.
Heath Streak on rumours of his demise: People should be a bit more careful
When Heath Streak learned of his “death,” he was at home in Zimbabwe. Streak informed Sportstar that he is in “good health and recovering from cancer” when the word got out and condolences began to come in from all around the world.
“Before spreading such rumors, people ought to use a little more caution. I’m better now, and I’m healing from cancer,” Streak said on Wednesday, sounding somewhat let down.
Streak, who has been battling colon cancer since May, did not have a social media account, so there was no way for him to warn the public that the announcement about his death made earlier in the day by his old colleague Henry Olonga was “fake news.”
“I am at home and obviously there’s still a bit of strain because of the treatment. But otherwise, I am fine,” the former Zimbabwe captain said.
“Suddenly I get to know that people have started talking about my death, as someone shared it on social media. But that was not all correct. I am recovering and feeling a lot better…”
Thank you for reading.
