Earlier this week, the reports of legendary Zimbabwe cricketer Heath Streak’s demise turned out to be a hoax.

It all started after ex-Zimbabwe pacer Henry Olonga prematurely broke the news of Streak’s death on social media, only to retract his statement later.

"Sad news coming through that Heath Streak has crossed to the other side. RIP @ZimCricketv legend. The greatest all-rounder we produced. It was a pleasure playing with you. See you on the other side when my bowling spell comes to an end," Olonga wrote on his X handle on August 23.

His post spread like wildfire on social media and condolence messages started pouring in for Streak. A few hours later, Olonga withdrew his statement and confirmed that Streak was alive by sharing a screenshot of his WhatsApp chat with the former Zimbabwe captain.

Heath Streak also issued a statement and refuted the rumours of his death. He expressed his distress over the unverified news going viral on social media, stating that he was 'very upset and hurt'.

Three days after the incident, Henry Olanga issued a public apology to Streak and his family in a lengthy Facebook post.

Olonga revealed that the fake news was based on information he had gathered from separate sources. He also said sorry for believing the news and apologized to Streak's family.

"When news came to me that Heath was unwell earlier this year, I made a concerted effort to reconnect after life had us all immersed in our own worlds. Heath has kept me up to date with all that is going on with treatment etc and we have had good contact throughout. The same with Nadine. They are the closest friends I have from the world of Zimbabwe cricket. Most others I have less interaction with.

“In any case, I was informed that Heath had taken a turn for the worse. We were encouraged to write kind words for his eulogy. So it appeared imminent. I will not go into too much detail about how the mis-communication occurred, but rest assured, I heard the story first on Facebook like everyone else. I did immediately text Heath and Nadine to verify. It was a while before they could respond as it was late at night. I texted a few close cricket colleagues who know the family well and they confirmed it was true."

"I did ask pointed questions to verify but they were convinced. After all I had only heard from Heath the day before so it seemed kind of sudden. But I truly was devastated as I genuinely believed he was gone. And all the emotion I felt I am sure those who encountered the story felt it too."

"Obviously, I am extremely sorry that I took it as gospel. I then placed my own tributes which seemed to gather a lot of traction ( amongst many tributes out there ) only to get a text from Heath a few hours later in which he asked me to reverse the decision. ( He has always had a great sense of humour ). I then had to back track and attempt to fix the error that unfortunately had gone global. But how can it get fixed easily in this day and age? So I retracted as best I could."

"I of course profusely apologised to the Streaks after the clanger. They did not need this. In any case, I hope you understand the context now and again appreciate your forgiveness for my part in this unfortunate affair. I am very sad about it."

"It was extremely heart warming to see how much love there is out there for our champion. Perhaps a silver lining......." said Olonga in his statement.