FORMER Zimbabwe national cricket team coach Heath Streak looks set to continue his sabbatical from international cricket after ruling himself out of contention for the vacant Scotland job following reports linking him to the post, which fell vacant in September.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
Streak was believed to have applied for the job following the departure of former New Zealand all-rounder Grant Bradburn.
Bradburn (52) spent more than four years in charge of Scotland before leaving to become Pakistan assistant coach.
Streak, who was roped in by Cricket Scotland as bowling consultant ahead of their Twenty20 International tri-series against the Netherlands and Ireland in June, had been touted as a possible replacement together with former England all-rounder Paul Collingwood.
The former Zimbabwe captain, however, told The Sports Hub in an interview that although he had considered the job, he had not submitted an application.
Streak cited his commitments in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and other Twenty20 tournaments around the world as the main reason behind his decision.
“I haven’t applied for the Scotland role,” Streak said. “It (the Scotland job) is something that I have thought of and am still thinking about, but it’s difficult to commit to it with some of the other (Twenty20) T20 tournaments that I’m involved in. So at this moment there’s nothing concrete,” he said.
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Streak, who picked up 216 wickets from 65 Tests and 239 wickets from 189 one-day internationals for Zimbabwe, is set to feature in the IPL early next year following a successful stint with Kolkata Knight Riders.
The well-travelled coach has also enjoyed successful stints with the Bangladesh national side as bowling coach.
Streak is currently in the midst of a legal battle with his former employer, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), and recently engaged the services of top local lawyer Thabani Mpofu in a US$1 million defamation lawsuit against ZC chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani over racism and corruption accusations.
Streak launched the lawsuit in April after the ZC boss accused him in statements of biased selection, based on race, following Zimbabwe’s failure to qualify for next year’s World Cup in England.
Addressing reporters in April, Mukuhlani seemed to insinuate that Zimbabwe’s shock defeat to minnows United Arab Emirates in the World Cup qualifiers, which dealt the team’s qualification bid a hammer blow, could have been engineered by underhand dealings under the oversight of Streak.
The affable former Zimbabwe captain was sacked by ZC in the aftermath of that tournament, which led a series of clashes between the ZC board and a spirited group of disgruntled fans, who instead laid blame on the board for the team’s failure.
Streak, who was replaced by Indian Lalchand Rajput, has also filed a court application seeking the liquidation of the local cricket governing body for non-payment of money owed to him and other creditors.
