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Robson Sharuko-Senior Sports Editor

IT all started with a WhatsApp chat with an Indian bookmaker, identified only as Mr X, which was then followed by a US$35 000 payment, and then an iPhone gift.

And, over 15 months, Heath Streak batted himself into a cricket underworld, in a questionable romance with a betting merchant.

All, this being done, in violation of the International Cricket Council Anti-Corruption Code.

But, amid the gloom cast by the dark cloud of shock, disappointment and shame, brought by Streak’s eight-year ban from the game yesterday, was a rainbow of light, pregnant with relief, for the gentlemen’s game.

That, for all the machinations, which led to the Zimbabwe cricket legend’s dance with infamy, a silver lining emerged in the form of a global game which, through the strength of its systems, found a way to confront, and defeat, the latest threat to its integrity.

And, even more importantly, was the conclusion by the ICC that none of the shadowy activities, involving Streak and his Indian associate, compromised the outcome, of any of the matches targeted by this web of deceit.

That’s crucial, for the sake of the integrity of the country’s second biggest sporting discipline, whose spectator appeal has sky-rocketed in recent years, to know that none of the results of its international matches, were compromised.

“As a former captain and coach, he held a position of trust and owed a duty to uphold the integrity of the game,’’ Alex Marshall, the ICC general manager — Integrity Unit, said, in a statement, yesterday.

‘’He breached the code on several occasions, including facilitating the approach of four other players. At times, he also sought to obstruct and delay our investigation.

“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.” 

An alternative conclusion, suggesting that the Chevrons’ matches fell victim to the shadowy activities of their former coach, would have been disastrous for the game, which is battling to stand on its feet again, after years of a battering inflicted by boardroom issues.

The ICC said their investigations, into Streakgate, had been concluded and the picture, which emerges, is one in which the legendary cricketer, and his Indian associate, targeted matches that were played either in the Indian sub-continent, or in the Gulf.

Of course, some of those matches featured the Chevrons but, from the comprehensive judgment released by the ICC yesterday, the outcome of those matches, were not compromised.

In cricket, unlike in football, little but sensitive information, like what the team will do, should they win the toss, for instance, is considered very privileged and should not be shared, with those outside the team, because it can be abused to oil the corrupt underworld betting industry.

It’s a high-stakes industry and, by exposing players to those who run this multi-million dollar enterprise, there is a real risk that pressure could be exerted, on these players, to subject themselves to the demands of such shady characters, compromising the integrity of the game.

There is a lucrative shadowy betting industry, which target matches on the Asian sub-continent – Bangladesh, including the country’s Premier League, India, including its money-spinning Premier League, the Pakistan Super League and the Afghanistan Premier League.

The Tri-Nations series, in Bangladesh in 2018, which featured the hosts, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, was targeted and so was the limited overs series, in the same year, between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, in the United Arab Emirates.

The Chevrons beat Sri Lanka by 12 runs, in their only victory in that Tri-Nations in Dhaka, with the team losing by eight wickets and 91 runs, in two matches against the hosts Bangladesh, and by five wickets, in the other game against the Sri Lankans.

During their 2018 limited overs series, against Afghanistan, in the United Arab Emirates, the Chevrons lost both T20Is and won one ODI while losing the other four ODIs.

But, it appears from the ICC judgment, that it was in the Indian Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League, Pakistan Super League and Afghanistan Premier League, where most of the transgressions, the outlawed passing on of sensitive information to shadowy bookmakers, were committed.

There is no doubt Streak has been a towering figure in domestic cricket, the only Zimbabwean cricketer to take more than 100 Test wickets.

At the very peak of his athletic powers, he was ranked as high as the number five bowler, in Test cricket, in the world, a talent which saw him take 216 Test wickets, for his country.

He was also a very good player, in limited overs cricket, where he fought his way to be ranked as high as number eight, in the world, in ODIs.

For years, he was the game’s poster boy but, now, his legacy, from a life spent in the trenches of cricket, lie in ruins, after the bombshell verdict released by the ICC yesterday.

Ironically, Streak has been at the heart of some of those boardroom wrangles, since the turn of the millennium, which nearly dragged domestic cricket to its grave.

In 2004, 14 white players – Stuart Carlisle, Grant Flower, Craig Wishart, Andy Blignaut, Ray Price, Gary Brent, Sean Irvine, Travis Friend, Barney Rogers, Trevor Gripper, Richard Simms, Neil Ferreira, Charles Coventry and Gavin Ewing, in solidarity with him, after – staged a rebellion, against the Zimbabwe Cricket leadership, in solidarity with him, after he had been fired from the captaincy.

Then, after the 2018 ICC World Cup Qualifier, hosted in this country, things got a little bit messy, including some High Court cases, when he was fired from his job as coach, after the Chevrons’ failure to qualify from the tournament.

The ZC leadership bore the brunt of some of the fiercest criticism, ever levelled against those in charge of a domestic sport governing body but, in the wake of the dramatic events which exploded yesterday, they will feel some sort of vindication, their decision was correct.

That probably pale into comparison to the relief, which probably swept across their boardroom yesterday that, amid all this mess, the integrity of the Chevrons’ matches, was not compromised.

They know, this would have been the real hammer blow, to the gentlemen’s game.