Heath Streak will be free to resume his involvement in the game on March 28, 2029.
Former Zimbabwe captain and head coach Heath Streak was handed an eight-year ban from all cricket by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching ICC's anti-corruption code.
Streak had accepted five charges leveled against him for his role as the coach of Zimbabwe between 2016 and 2018 and as the coach of various domestic teams across the world and “apologized” and took “full responsibility” for his actions, but denied his involvement in the fixing matches.
The 47-year-old admitted to disclosing inside information pertaining to international matches involving a 2018 Zimbabwe-Bangladesh-Sri Lanka tri-series, a Zimbabwe-Afghanistan series in 2018, as well as matches in Twenty20 leagues in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.
Streak said in a statement: “I apologize sincerely to my family, friends, the cricketing loving public, and above all my fellow Zimbabweans, who have over the years shown me love and support, during the numerous trials and tribulations we have faced.”
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He further added, “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 change room during a match at any given time in our relationship. This position has been confirmed by the ICC itself in its own statement.”
Under the provisions of the Code, Streak admitted the charges and agreed with the sanction with the ICC in lieu of an Anti-Corruption Tribunal hearing.
The former coach further revealed, “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 vigor.”
He continued, “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.”
Streak also said that he doesn’t want cricket in Zimbabwe to suffer for his actions as he intends to serve out the sanction handed by the ICC for his actions.
He signed off by saying, “I also hope that cricket in Zimbabwe should not be punished or suffer for my actions directly or indirectly. I commit to serving out my sanction as guided by the ICC and am committed to helping them and cricket in Zimbabwe in whatever manner I can.
I look forward to continuing to contribute to the development of cricket in Zimbabwe, making amends and returning to the game as and when the ICC sees it fit.”
(With ESPNcricinfo Inputs)