Streak off to Bangladesh

Senior Sports Reporter
EX-ZIMBABWE senior national cricket team captain Heath Streak left the country last night for Bangladesh to take up a post as bowling coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team on a two-year deal.Streak will assume his new role tomorrow after putting pen to paper to the contract offered to him by the Bangladesh Cricket Board after two weeks of negotiations.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board announced last Monday the capture of Streak to try and strengthen their technical team. The former Zimbabwe skipper is going to look after the Bangladesh bowlers during next year’s International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup to be staged in Australia and New Zealand as well as at the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India.

The 40-year-old Streak who has also served in the same capacity for the Zimbabwe national team up to March last year described the Bangladesh job as a great chance for him and he pointed out that he was looking forward to the challenge which comes with the post as it would afford him a chance to advance his curriculum vitae as a coach.

“It is a good opportunity for me to further my coaching career, improve on my cv by coaching at the highest international level and I am looking forward to the challenge,’’ said Streak.

He said his goal was to develop the Bangladesh fast bowlers that they can select on a regular basis and make sure they make a mark at next year’s ICC World Cup.

Streak becomes the second Zimbabwean to be snapped up by a foreign country in recent times as Zimbabwe batting coach Grant Flower is on his way to Pakistan to become batting coach of the Pakistan national cricket team.

In April last year, Streak expressed disappointment with the way he was treated by Zimbabwe Cricket when the cricket mother body decided not to renew his contract as the national team bowling coach when it expired in March.

Streak and Flower join a long list of Zimbabweans who are making a contribution to other cricket playing nations. Grant’s brother, Andrew was up until last year the head coach of England, a team with which he clinched with three Ashes series wins over Australia and even after stepping down as England coach late last year he is still involved behind the scenes at the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Former Zimbabwe captain Duncan Fletcher, a 2005 Ashes winner with England is the head coach of world 50 over champions India where another Zimbabwean Trevor Penny is the fielding coach.