Former Zimbabwe cricketer Henry Olonga has shed light on his premature announcement of Heath Streak’s death, revealing three separate sources indicated the latter had passed away.
The cricketing world was left in shock after Olonga announced on Wednesday the 49-year-old had died of cancer, before performing a spectacular U-turn as he confirmed Streak was in fact very much alive.
Olonga said he first read of Streak’s death on a Zimbabwean sporting forum on Facebook, before he tried to contact the former Test cricket star and his family.
He reportedly received no reply and was then told by a former teammate Streak had died. When a tribute from one of Streak’s friends appeared online, Olonga felt he had no reason to doubt the veracity of the news.
Speaking to ABC Radio Adelaide on Thursday, Olonga said reading the tributes conjured memories of the reaction to the passing of Rod Marsh, Shane Warne and Andrew Symonds last year.
Former Zimbabwe cricketer Henry Olonga has shed light on his premature announcement of Heath Streak’s death on Wednesday
Streak was ‘very upset and hurt’ by the rumours of his sudden death that swept the internet
‘I thought that’s terrible, and all of the feelings we felt last year when Symonds, Marsh and Warnie died, they all flooded back,’ Olonga, who played 30 Test matches for Zimbabwe, said.
‘I thought, “It’s obviously official now, getting confirmation from three sources”, so I then put up my own tribute, a few photos […] and reminisced over some of our great moments on the team.
‘I did try to do my due diligence – I’m not a journalist, but I did do some fact-checking.’
Olonga, who lives in Australia after being forced into exile for protesting against Robert Mugabe’s government, wrote on social media: ‘Sad news coming through that Heath Streak has crossed to the other side,’ he wrote on X – the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
‘RIP [Zimbabwe cricket] legend. The greatest all rounder we produced. It was a pleasure playing with you.
‘See you on the other side when my bowling spell comes to an end.’
Soon afterward, however, Olonga swiftly changed his tune.
Olonga said reading the tributes conjured memories of the reaction to the passing of Rod Marsh, Shane Warne (middle) and Andrew Symonds (right) last year
Olonga then shared a Whatsapp message from Streak, who revealed he was in fact alive
‘I can confirm that rumours of the demise of Heath Streak have been greatly exaggerated,’ he wrote.
‘I just heard from him. The third umpire has called him back. He is very much alive folks.’
On Wednesday, Streak said he was ‘very upset and hurt’ by the rumours of his demise.
‘It is a total rumour and a lie. I’m alive and well,’ he told Indian outlet Mid-Day in response to the rumours over his passing.
‘I am very upset to learn that something as big as someone apparently passing can be spread unverified especially in our day and age of social media.’
Olonga conceded the ‘very unfortunate’ incident must have been devastating for Streak’s family and friends.
‘For the family it must have been terrible for them to wake up and get millions of messages pinging their phones asking if Heath’s dead or alive or is it true or whatever, so I have total sympathy for them,’ he said.
Streak is Zimbabwe’s all-time leading wicket-taker for in Test matches and ODI cricket with 216 and 239 wickets respectively
Olonga took 68 wickets in 30 Test matches and 58 wickets in 50 ODIs for Zimbabwe
‘We were obviously terribly at fault there — it was not true.’
And Olonga admitted the incident was a stark reminder of the pitfalls of social media.
‘I find myself in the middle of it not because I started it — I wasn’t the first person to get it out there — but my messages somehow got some traction on social media,’ he said.
‘I suppose it serves as a cursory warning to people to be absolutely sure about facts.’
Streak is one of Zimbabwe’s greatest ever cricketers and was the first player from his nation to take 100 wickets.
Streak was reported to be battling cancer earlier in the year and has been receiving treatment in South Africa
He played 65 Tests and 189 one-day internationals for Zimbabwe, captaining them between 2000 and 2004.
He scored 4,933 international runs, hitting a lone century against the West Indies in Harare, and took 445 wickets.
Streak was reported to be battling cancer earlier in the year and has been receiving treatment in South Africa.
‘He’s actually quite unwell at the moment, he’s battling stage four cancer,’ Olonga said.