Heath Streak says he was fired by Zimbabwe Cricket after he refused to resign from his position as head coach.

Zimbabwe Cricket made a shocking move to fire their entire coaching staff and captain after the national side failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Streak’s coaching staff included batting coach Lance Klusener, bowling coach Douglas Hondo, fielding coach Walter Chawaguta, team analyst Stanley Chiwoza along with strength and conditioning coach Sean Bell.

Despite the major clean out, ZC still announced that they will host Australia and Pakistan in a T20I triangular series in July.

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In an interview with Sport 24, the 44-year-old unveiled the truth behind his resignation.

‘It was a shock when I was told by Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) that my coaching team and I must resign, failing which we would be fired. It was massively disappointing that we missed out on qualifying for the 2019 Cricket World Cup but, since taking the helm 18 months ago, we almost doubled our win ratio and won our first away ODI series in 17 years,’ said Streak.

‘Moreover, getting players like Solomon Mire, Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis back from Australia and England respectively was also a good achievement for the future of the game in Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, the ZC board felt that we weren’t good enough as a management group and they wanted to go in a different direction after the big downer of missing out on World Cup qualification.

‘We had a good lead-up to the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe but sadly lost our last game against the UAE, via the Duckworth-Lewis method, which proved crucial. Thereafter, I chose not to resign as I believe it would have been degrading to our national players and my technical team. As a result, I was dismissed with immediate effect.’

Streak also revealed that the manner in which the issue was dealt with was an infringement of his contract and that his legal team will be looking into it.

‘My lawyers are now dealing with the matter because there are contractual and labour infractions owing to the manner in which the dismissals were done. However, the axe has not only fallen on the national team, but the A-team, under-19 side and the selectors as well, who were given the option to either resign or be fired.

‘For me, the most disappointing thing is how we have been treated. We didn’t get a chance to have a hearing and only received an e-mail outlining the course of action from the powers that be. It is extreme and short-sighted.’

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