Heath Streak

Heath Hilton Streak (born 16 March 1974, in Bulawayo) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer and currently the head coach of Zimbabwe national team. He made his Test debut in Zimbabwe's tour of Pakistan 1993/1994 making his mark by taking 8 wickets in the 2nd Test at Rawalpindi ( 9–14 December 1993). In the match, Streak won the Player of the series award, took 22 wickets at an average of 13.54.

Early career

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.

Rising through ranks

He bettered his best bowling figures in 1995 when Pakistan toured Zimbabwe taking 6/90 in the first Test at Harare.

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.

He is the only Zimbabwean bowler to have taken over 100 Test wickets and one of only 4 Zimbabwean bowlers to have taken over 100 ODI wickets (the others being Grant Flower, Prosper Utseya & Ray Price). There is little doubt that he is the best bowler to have played for Zimbabwe, with the ability to extract seam movement at a lively pace on even the deadest of wickets.

Retirement

He retired from international cricket in October 2005 to become captain of Warwickshire County Cricket Club having previously played county cricket for Hampshire. He also captains his fellow exiled players from Zimbabwe in the Red Lions team, which plays charity games in England.

On 25 April 2007, Streak resigned as Warwickshire captain, saying 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.^[1]

At the bottom of the year of 2007, he joined the Ahmedabad Rockets in the Indian Cricket League. He played two seasons in the ICL along with appearing in the Hong Kong sixes.

In 2009, he cut his ties with ICL, and in that August was appointed as the bowling coach of Zimbabwean national team. He was also given the responsibility of working with the young Zimbabwean fast bowlers and for franchise cricket.

Controversies

Heath 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.^[2]

Coaching career

In August 2009, was appointed as the bowling coach of Zimbabwean cricket national team. He was also given the responsibility of working with the young Zimbabwean fast bowlers and for franchise cricket.

Later it also appeared that Heath Streak is the most possible candidate for the head coach job of Zimbabwean national team when the contract of Walter Chwaguta ends. It is believed that Walter Chwaguta will be Streak's assistant coach.

In 2010 along with his former team-mate Grant Flower, he joint as supporting coach of Zimbabwe under former English cricketer Alan Butcher. Flower became batting coach and Streak was named as bowling coach.

In 2013, Streak contract was not renewed for financial reasons. Zimbabwe Cricket had offered Streak a consultancy role but they cannot guarantee him a set number of working days or specific pay which has forced him to stay out of the preparations for Bangladesh series. Finances permitting at his franchise in Bulawayo, the Matabeleland Tuskers, he remained coach there. He was appointed Bangladesh's bowling coach in May 2014 until 2016.

In October 2016, he was appointed Head Coach of the Zimbabwe Cricket team. Streak has been tasked with ensuring Zimbabwe qualify for the 2019 World Cup, and will be allowed to continue in his role as bowling coach for the Gujarat Lions in the IPL.^[3]

International record

Test 5 Wicket hauls

#	Figures	Match	Opponent	Venue	City	Country	Year
1	5/56	2	Pakistan	Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium	Rawalpindi	Pakistan	1993
2	6/90	7	Pakistan	Harare Sports Club	Harare	Zimbabwe	1995
3	6/90	8	Pakistan	Queens Sports Club	Bulawayo	Zimbabwe	1995
4	5/93	27	Australia	Harare Sports Club	Harare	Zimbabwe	1999
5	5/27	28	West Indies	Queen's Park Oval	Port of Spain	Trinidad & Tobago	2000
6	6/87	30	England	Lord's	London	England	2000
7	6/73	65	India	Harare Sports Club	Harare	Zimbabwe	2005

References

External links

• http://www.cricinfo.com/zimbabwe/content/story/423665.html
• http://www.cricinfo.com/zimbabwe/content/story/421979.html
• Player profile: Heath Streak from ESPNcricinfo

Zimbabwe squads
Zimbabwe squad – 1996 Cricket World Cup 1 A Flower (c/wk) 2 Brandes 3 Campbell 4 Davies 5 Evans 6 GW Flower 7 Lock 8 Olonga 9 Peall 10 BC Strang 11 PA Strang 12 Streak 13 Waller 14 Whittall Zimbabwe squad – 1999 Cricket World Cup 1 Campbell (c) 2 A Flower (wk) 3 GW Flower 4 Johnson 5 Goodwin 6 Carlisle 7 Olonga 8 Mbangwa 9 Streak 10 Huckle 11 Viljoen 12 Brandes 13 Strang 14 AR Whittall 15 GJ Whittall Zimbabwe squad – 2003 Cricket World Cup 2 Whittall 8 Vermeulen 9 Streak (c) 10 Wishart 14 Ervine 18 Friend 22 Ebrahim 27 Murphy 33 A. Flower 42 Marillier 44 Taibu 68 G. Flower 77 Olonga 79 Hondo 99 Blignaut Coach: Marsh Alistair Campbell and Stuart Matsikenyeri were named in the original squad but withdrew from the tournament