Former Zimbabwe quick Henry Olonga has issued a public apology after his “clanger” led to the world into believing that the ailing Heath Streak, his long-time teammate, had passed away.

In a long, heartfelt note on Facebook, Olonga “profusely apologised” for a social media post earlier this week that declared the demise of Streak sent the cricketing fraternity into shock. Olonga’s post was quoted by several prominent news outlets around the world as the story spread thick and fast. Not too long after, came a clarification that Streak hadn’t actually passed away.

Among those providing the clarification was Olonga himself, who, in another post, said that the news of Streak’s demise “had been greatly exaggerated”, sharing a snapshot of his text exchange with Streak where the former all-rounder confirmed he was “very much alive”.

The eulogies disappeared soon after, and news agencies had to retract their reports.

But Henry is the same person we all saw the initial post of Heath’s death from so this is confusing as he is the one that started the “rumour”. Maybe an apology from him as he got it wrong initially. Mistakes happen: pic.twitter.com/U4WXp9bqtY

— Yolanda T.T (@BarakaYolanda) August 23, 2023

I can confirm that rumours of the demise of Heath Streak have been greatly exaggerated. I just heard from him. The third umpire has called him back. He is very much alive folks. pic.twitter.com/LQs6bcjWSB

— Henry Olonga (@henryolonga) August 23, 2023

On Saturday morning, Olonga, in a Facebook post, was deeply apologetic of the turn of events that incorrectly called the death of his friend for 39 years.

“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 apeared imminent. I will not go into too much detail how the mis-communication occurred but rest assured I heard the story first on Facebook like everyone else,” Olonga wrote. “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.”

Olonga revealed how he saw the news spread like wildfire overnight, only to get a message from Streak later, asking him to “reverse the decision”.

“Obviously I am extremely sorry that I took it as gospel,” Olonga continued. “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…….”

Streak’s wife, Nadine, also posted a clarification on her Facebook account, revealing how the family was “rocked to the core” when a deluge of condolences came their way three days ago. However, she also acknowledged Olonga’s error, saying that he has always been a good friend, “and a mistake doesn’t alter that”.

Streak, a former Zimbabwe captain and one of the country’s finest all-rounders, is currently battling cancer and is under treatment.