The first black cricketer to don the Zimbabwe colour, Henry Olonga was forced to retire from international cricket at the peak of his career. Protesting against the then-Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe by wearing a black armband in World Cup 2003 to mourn “the death of democracy” turned out to be expensive for the fast bowler. Olonga was forced to live in exile in England and Australia because of death threats.
One of the best fast bowlers of his time, Olonga had other talents apart from fast bowling. In a recent video going viral on Twitter, the 42-year-old is singing ‘This is the moment”. The Zimbabwean impressed the judges in the blind auditions for the Voice of Australia. One of the judges recongised Olonga from his cricketing days.
Incredible. Former Zimbabwe Test cricketer @henryolonga blew away the judges in The Voice Australia. pic.twitter.com/F1atWAS2fT
— Derek Alberts (@derekalberts1) May 28, 2019
“Music is special to me, because I sung as a soloist in the choir every term of my schooling. It became a very important part of my education,” Olonga said.
“I’ve been singing a lot of music since I retired from my previous career. I just wanna sing now. Just sing,” he concluded.
The veteran of 30 Test and 50 ODIs, impressed former cricketers Darren Lehmann and Shaun Pollock for his performance as well:
Just watched @henryolonga on @TheVoiceAU, what a great performance. Good luck Henry!
— Darren Lehmann (@darren_lehmann) May 27, 2019
Great Job Bud… loving it..from the first time I heard you sing .. I have always been impressed..@henryolonga . The Blind Auditions: Henry Olonga sings ‘This Is the Moment’ | The Voice… https://t.co/J8pbCrvHO9 via @YouTube
— Shaun Pollock (@7polly7) May 27, 2019
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