Zimbabwe cricket captain receives ban for betting-related breaches

Added: April 15, 2021

Heath Streak, the former Zimbabwe captain and coach, has obtained an eight year ban over the breach of the International Cricket Council’s regulations.

The coach has accepted five separate charges of breaching the council’s Anti-Corruption Code and will now be banned from the sport for the whole duration of the ban’s validity. The ICC stated that the breaches took place during 2016 and 2018, when he was coach of Zimbabwe.

The charge 2.3.2 concerned an occurrence when the coach revealed insider information under the ICC Code when he was fully aware that this information can possibly be used for betting reasons. Notably, the information he revealed was related to some matches in 2018’s Tri-Series which involved Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, as well as the 2018 Indian Premier League and the 2019 Afghanistan Premier League.

The other charge, charge 2.3.3, concerns inducing or knowingly facilitating participants to breach the ICC’s Code. In this case, the coach tried to introduce four of the players to an individual who was trying to get information from them for betting-related reasons.

The International Cricket Council also noted that Streak had breached the Code’s Article 2.4.7, which is an article detailing the obstruction or delay of an investigation led by the ICC, such as tampering with evidence or hiding it. The former coach also admitted to these charges, meaning that he will be entirely banned from the sport until the 28th of March 2029.

Alex Marshall, general manager of the ICC Integrity Unit, stated:

“Heath Streak is an experienced former international cricketer and national team coach, who had participated in numerous anti-corruption education sessions and was fully aware of his responsibilities under the Code. As a former captain and coach, he held a position of trust and owed a duty to uphold the integrity of the game. The offences did not affect the outcomes of any relevant matches and Mr Streak has agreed to assist the ICC anti-corruption education programme for which we are grateful. He has also expressed his remorse and contrition and entered this agreed sanction decision to avoid the need for a full disciplinary process. The sanction reflects this cooperation.”

sports, Sports Betting, Zimbabwe