Heath Streak in 'good spirits' as he continues his battle against cancer

Heath's family released a statement disclosed by ESPNcricinfo about his ongoing treatment in South Africa. They thanked the supporters for their wishes and the support they continue to show in the tough time.

"Heath has cancer and is undergoing treatment under one of the most respected oncologists in South Africa. He remains in good spirits and will continue to fight this disease in a similar vein to that which his opponents faced during his revered days on the cricket field."

"The family hopes that you understand and respect their wish for this to remain a private family matter, and thank you for your prayers and good wishes. There will be no further official statements regarding his health at this time. Any news that becomes public should be regarded as rumour," his family said in a statement as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 49-year-old announced his retirement at the age of 31 in 2005. Streak still remains the only Zimbabwe bowler with more than 100 Test wickets and over 200 ODI wickets. He captained Zimbabwe in 2000, which was a difficult period when a number of players withdrew from the national side as relations between the board and the team were going through a rough patch.

In 2021, he was handed an eight-year ban by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching Anti-Corruption Code. However, he later released a statement saying that he was not involved in any sort of match-fixing.

"I also want to place on record to the public and fans that I was not involved in any match-fixing, spot-fixing, or attempts to influence a game or share information from a changeroom during a match at any given time in our relationship. This position has been confirmed by the ICC itself in its own statement," Streak's statement read, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.

"In 2017, I met an individual keen to invest in cricket in Africa, and in particular they wanted to sponsor a T20 tournament in Zimbabwe, which would be called the Safari Blast. The individual was subsequently vetted and cleared through the usual protocols and to be honest, I let my guard down as the friendship and potential business partnership blossomed. The nature of our relationship was fraternal and cordial at all times. I genuinely believed it was a safe space. I also hoped the relationship would be beneficial not only to myself and to the academy but to Zimbabwean cricket and I pursued its growth with vigour," said Streak.

"At the onset I was engaged, and paid the Bitcoin, to assist in buying and building teams in different regional T20 competitions, which was successful, resulting in the purchase of a team in Dubai for this individual. Much later on in our friendship, the only other thing I received was a bottle of whisky and my wife was gifted a phone. Several months down the line the ICC then brought to my attention the fact that the individual with whom I had been dealing, and some of the information that I had shared during our friendship/interaction may have been used for online betting," he added. (ANI)