HEATH STREAK – ZIMBABWE’S PRIDE

 

It has been 28 years when Zimbabwe went down in annuls of cricket history becoming 9^th Test nation to play Test Cricket since then Zimbabwe has produced some fine cricketers but probably no one have been able to beat  Heath Streak’s contribution to country’s system

 

It’s been 15 years when Heath Streak played his last international game as a cricketer, for Zimbabwe however he is one of the few cricketers who have been continuously involved in international cricket and been attached to Zimbabwe cricket in multiple roles.

Mashonaland County Districts was taking on Mashonaland in Logan Cup Final (Zimbabwe’s domestic tournament) of 1995-96. Denis Streak, 46 who was third generation cricketer was playing in his last professional game of career which stretched for almost 14 years. However the moment was special for him for another reason, his 22 year old son Heath was also playing along him in the same team and it was such first instance in almost three  decades when father and son duo played in same first class match.

A 21 year Old, Heath Streak had made his international debut during Hero Cup in November 1993 at historic M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. He impressed in the limited opportunity that he received during the tournament and suddenly was playing his first Test, a month later at famous National Stadium at Karachi. After going wicketless in the first test, Streak showed the talent, he possessed. He picked 8 wickets with a five-fer in the second innings ripping apart a batting line up that consisted up names like Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Aamir Sohail. Zimbabwe though lost the Test but in Streak they had found a young talented bowler who could lead them for long period of time.

Heath and Paul Strang were two main bowlers 

The major moment in his career came in February of 1995 when Zimbabwe marked their first ever Test win over a strong Pakistani side at Harare. Streak was instrumental in the winning picking 9 wickets. Streak fondly remembers the win, speaking to ESPN Cricinfo he said “To have been part of the first Test win for Zimbabwe, and to have played such a crucial role in it, was something that I'll hold dear for a long time, although the only wicket I can really remember is coming round the wicket and nicking off Inzamam. But I do remember the victory celebrations at the end of it. I left the ground to go and have a toenail removed and came back later on for the celebrations, which were still going strong”

Despite being a fast bowler, Streak had to bear a heavy workload, he had to bowl lot of overs as Zimbabwe had very few quality options. Against Sri Lanka in 1994 home series, Streak bowled 134.5 overs in the series. On New Zealand’s tour in early 1996, Streak bowled a whooping 99 overs in two Tests. Streak’s strength and strong fitness helped him to survive such a high amount of pressure all these years.

Streak was a fine allrounder

Streak has featured in almost all the major Test match victories of Zimbabwe. One of such glorious days of Zimbabwe Cricket happened in late 1990s. In December 1998-99, Zimbabwe won their first major Test on foreign soil by defeating Pakistan in Pakistan. Streak took 6 wickets in the landmark win at Peshawar’s Arbab Niaz Stadium as the world was left stunned by Zimbabwe’s performance. Only a year ago Pakistan has defeated West Indies 3-0 at home. Streak was part of Zimbabwe’s best world cup campaign, in England, in 1999, Zimbabwe defeated India and South Africa in a remarkable tournament where they reached super sixes.

Streak here in opening ceremony of 2003 World Cup

Over the course of next 4 years Zimbabwe as cricket team continued to impress with their growth on the field however Zimbabwe as a country was going through a serious turmoil and the foundations of the game had started to shake. Number of intellectuals, young people and sports persons started to leave the country as they saw no future for them in what was a nation on rapid decline. These numbers included number of Zimbabwe’s internationals who moved outside the country. However, Streak was still available, and he continued to be part of the different teams in the next few years.

In March of 2004, Zimbabwe cricket reached to its nadir, the players, mainly white went on the strike due to the racial discrimination policy of Zimbabwe Cricket Board, a number of them never played again for the country. Heath Streak led the players against the farcical policies and was dropped from the team. Over the course of next 12 months, Zimbabwe plunged from one humiliation to another. Streak returned after a year for series against India and New Zealand in August 2005. However by then Zimbabwe cricket had reached into uncurable condition. Streak decide to quit the international cricket after the season.

                              The 3rd ODI in Auckland 2001- Streak play Captain's Knock to seal a                                           historic first away ODI Series 

After his playing days, Streak smoothly slipped into the role of commentator and then later took various coaching assignments with Zimbabwe’s national team and number of other international teams.

Streak will always be remembered as one of the finest cricketer to have represented Zimbabwe in its short history and unarguably the best bowler the country have ever produced.

Heath Streak’s Batting Record

Duration	Format	Matches	Runs	Average	Best	100	50
1993-2005	Tests	65	1990	22.35	127*	1	11
1993-2005	ODI	189	2943	28.29	79*	0	13

Heath Streak’s Bowling Record

Duration	Format	Matches	Wickets	Average	Best	5w	Strike Rate
1993-2005	Tests	65	216	28.14	6-73	7	62.7
1993-2005	ODI	189	239	29.82	5-32	1	39.6