Former Zimbabwe Cricketer Henry Olonga Says He Is Now A Musician
Former Zimbabwe cricketer Henry Olonga has said he is now a musician after his cricket international career was prematurely terminated in 2005 when he stood up against “oppression” by the Robert Mugabe regime.
The Australian-based Zimbabwean national, together with Andy Flower, embarked on the famous black-armband protest which was held in their opening match against Namibia at the World Cup.
The protest came as the Mugabe administration had started implementing the fast-track land reform programme.
Olonga and Flower never played for Zimbabwe again, and Olonga retired prematurely from international cricket. Initially charged with treason (punishable by death in Zimbabwe), Olonga faced multiple arrest warrants and death threats. He fled the country in 2003 and lived in exile in Britain for 12 years.
Speaking to PTI, sitting in an Adelaide coffee shop, Olonga recollected what his life was like 15 years back. He said:
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I am a singer now. There is a lot of music in my life. I just did a couple of shows last Friday. My first solo performance without our band. It was just me and the audience.
Post cricket, I did a lot of things, I played for Lashings XI along with the great Sachin Tendulkar for a couple of matches. VVS Laxman also played. I did a few commentary gigs many moons back.
Life then kind of took me to different directions. I have two daughters, elder one soon to be 12 and younger one is 10. My wife is an Australian citizen and I have applied for Australian citizenship too. Hope to get it sometime soon.
And once I qualify, you never know, you might see me on athletics track. Throwing javelin.
Olonga said he had to leave Zimbabwe following death threats.
He says he has various ventures of mine and is also into art, public speaking and “maybe a bit of acting.”
Olonga played 80 international games for Zimbabwe which included 30 Tests (68 wickets) and 50 ODIs (58 wickets). Nothing extraordinary and he doesn’t even make any tall claims about his cricketing career.
