Former Zimbabwe all-rounder Heath Streak, who was handed an eight-year ban for corruption by the ICC, has apologized and accepted ‘full responsibility’ for his actions. However, he added that he was never involved in any attempts to fix matches.
The 47-year-old was banned earlier this month after he admitted to five breaches of the ICC's anti-corruption code.
The charges included revealing inside information which could be potentially used for betting purposes and failing to disclose the receipts of any gift, payment, hospitality or other benefit that the participant knew.
The games in question included the 2018 Tri-series involving Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan series in 2018, the IPL 2018 and APL 2018.
"I apologise to my family, friends ... my fellow Zimbabweans who have ... shown me love and support during the numerous trials and tribulations we have faced," Streak said in a statement quoted by The Telegraph.
Streak admitted to receiving bitcoin and other gifts from an individual who approached him back in 2017. "At the onset I was engaged, and paid Bitcoin, to assist in buying and building teams ... Much later on the only other thing I received was a bottle of whisky and my wife was gifted a phone.
"Several months down the line the ICC brought to my attention the fact that the individual with whom I had been dealing, and some of the information that I had shared ... may have been used for online betting,” he added.
Streak said he was never involved in any match fixing or spot fixing and hoped his story will set an example for other stakeholders.
"I want to place on record that I was not involved in any match fixing, spot fixing or attempts to influence a game or share information from a changeroom during a match," he said.
"I hope acknowledgement of my wrongdoing, wittingly or unwittingly, will set an example to current and future stakeholders."
Streak represented Zimbabwe in 65 tests and 189 ODIs between 1993-2005. Post-retirement, he served as coach for Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and was the bowling coach of IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders.
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