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Dingilizwe Ntuli, Sports Editor

DISGRACED former Zimbabwe cricket captain and coach Heath Streak has attempted to salvage what remains of his legendary status by apologising and shouldering full responsibility for breaching cricket’s anti-corruption code while he was coach of the Chevrons and an assistant coach in the Indian Premier League and other domestic competitions.

The International Cricket Council found Streak guilty of having a generally corrupt relationship with Deepak Agarwal to whom he disclosed inside information that might have been used by the Indian businessman for betting.

He facilitated the introduction of Agarwal to players, failed to report the approaches to the ICC’s anti-corruption unit and obstructed an investigation into his conduct.

The offences related to the 2017 Bangladesh Premier League, a tri-series involving Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in 2018, a Zimbabwe-Afghanistan series in 2018, the 2018 IPL and the 2018 Afghanistan Premier League.

Agarwal was last year banned for two years by the ICC after he admitted to charges of obstruction of an anti-corruption investigation.
Streak began communicating with Agarwal through WhatsApp in late 2017 and over the course of 15 months, the Indian businessman asked Streak to provide him with various information in relation to tournaments and matches he was involved with.

He also provided Agarwal with contact details of numerous players, including one who was a national team captain, when he knew that the businessman would approach them for inside information.

In return, Streak received two Bitcoins, which he sold for $35 000, and a new iPhone for his wife, according to the ICC.

The former cricket great pleaded guilty to all the charges and this week sought to once more endear himself to the cricketing world by accepting responsibility for his actions, but denied involvement in fixing matches.

He expressed remorse for letting down his guard in passing on information and opinions that were privy to him to Agarwal, who he didn’t mention by name, saying he was hoodwinked by the Indian businessman’s “plans” to invest in cricket in Africa and particularly to sponsor a T20 Tournament in Zimbabwe he said would be called the Safari Blast.

Streak must have realised that he was in trouble when the ICC started investigating Agarwal and colluded with the businessman to disrupt the investigation by colluding with him to delete phone messages.

It was, however, too late by then as ICC investigators had pinned down their men and while the results of the two-year investigation shocked the cricket world, especially Zimbabweans, Streak had probably accepted his fate, although he might not have expected the severity of the sanction.

Eight years was the ban handed down to him, meaning the 47-year-old will be 55 when this ban is lifted and one wonders what influence he will still have in the game, local or international, after this sanction.

Will Streak return to the game he is so passionate about and has been a trusted servant from his schoolboy days at Falcon College in Esigodini?

Streak was a part of the fierce schools’ sport rivalries during his six-year stay at Falcon, and he was among sports stars that made a mark on the international arena produced by this school.

Streak was a multiple-sportsman as a schoolboy and was, in fact, the golden boy of Falcon sport.

He was a bulldozing fullback for the school’s first team rugby, the dependable pace bowler in cricket, a trusted sprinter, dependable first team tennis player and a champion javelin and shotput thrower.

He also played football and hockey in which he excelled and it was not a surprise that he was named the Falcon sportsman of the year in 1992 when he was in Form 6.

He was an affable character and interacted with just about everyone at school, including hostel and grounds staff that he would take time to chat with in Ndebele.

Streak grew up on his father’s farm in Inyathi where he probably learnt IsiNdebele from the farm workers that he spent time with during school holidays.

Streak is generally a very respectful individual which is what makes him likeable.

He could have easily pursued a career as a professional rugby player with success because he was among the feared and best players of his generation while still at school.

But his family influence could have made him focus on cricket.

His father Denis played first class cricket during the country’s pre-Test era, and his advice obviously weighed on him to lean on cricket.
And again, local rugby administration was in shambles, while cricket was making strides in becoming a professional sport.

Streak had begun knocking on the senior national team’s door and it was no surprise when he made his debut a year after leaving school in 1993 against Pakistan in Karachi.

He exerted the same enthusiasm and passion he’d exhibited at Falcon and when he took eight wickets in his second Test in Rawalpindi, the right-arm pacer began attracting the attention of the cricketing world.

His run-ups were energetic and he could easily generate swing on the most unlikely pitches.
Suddenly Zimbabwe cricket had a dependable fast bowler that could only get better with time, and Streak did get better with time.

Since his senior team derby in 1993, Streak went on to become Zimbabwe’s all-time leading wicket-taker.

In the 65 Test matches he played; he took 216 wickets as well as 239 wickets in 189 one-day internationals at an average of 29.82.
In 2000, Streak rattled through the England batting line-up, taking 6/87 in a Test at Lord’s.

He was also useful with the bat and his finest knock remains the unbeaten 127 he smashed against West Indies in a Test at Harare Sports Club in 2003.

He was appointed Chevrons captain in 2000, taking over from Andy Flower, but resigned over pay a pay dispute with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (now Zimbabwe Cricket) and tensions over quotas the union proposed to increase the number of black players, most of who had quit the game in frustration over alleged favouritism.

Streak was again appointed captain in 2002 and quit the national team in 2004 after the union refused to give him guarantees over team selection.

He again was restored to the side in 2005 and left to play county cricket for Warwickshire and Hampshire in 2006 and 2007.

He joined the Indian Cricket League in 2008 and then was appointed Zimbabwe cricket bowling coach in 2009 before being elevated to head coach in the same year up to 2013.

He left to coach Bangladesh from 2014 to 2016 and again returned to Zimbabwe cricket as head coach from 2016 up to 2018.

After finally leaving Zimbabwe cricket, Streak joined Kolkata Knight Riders as bowling coach in the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL) and took up the same role at Kabul Zwanan in the 2018 Afghanistan Premier League.

His love for the game also saw him opening the Heath Streak Academy in Bulawayo in 2014. The academy worked mostly with kids from the city’s western suburbs’ schools to reinstall the love of cricket that once gripped the country when Zimbabwe stormed into the Super 6 of the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

The country was gripped by a cricket euphoria and it temporarily rivaled football as the country’s most popular sport.

The game was being on the streets of the country’s western suburbs, with breaks and sticks being used as stumps as well as makeshift bats.

Again, Streak’s performances helped create that euphoria together with pace bowling partner Henry Olonga.

But like the walls of Jericho, the legendary status and respect he had enjoyed for close to three decades in cricket as a player and coach all came tumbling down in the second week of last month after the ICC shock announcement.
And Streak says he only received two Bitcoins, an iPhone and a bottle of whiskey for all his troubles.