Former West Indies captains Sir Vivian Richards and Carl Hooper recently took aim at Brian Lara, another legendary West Indies batter, over claims made in his recently published autobiography, “Lara: The England Chronicles.”

Viv Richards and Carl Hooper’s deep disappointment over “gross misrepresentations”

Lara’s controversial statement in the book grabbed many eyeballs when he narrated Vivian Richards’s intimidating personality and the dynamics of the dressing room, turning the colleagues’ relationship into an abusive and toxic trade.

He wrote, “Viv used to make me cry every three weeks, but he would make Carl cry once a week. Viv’s tone of voice is intimidating, and if you’re not strong enough, you can take that personally and be affected by it. Me, I was never really affected by it. In a way, I welcomed it because I was so much under his arm that I knew abuse was coming, and I was a strong personality. Carl? I know for a fact that Carl shied away from Viv Richards.”

In a joint statement, Richards and Hooper expressed their “deep disheartenment” over what they termed “gross misrepresentations” in Lara’s book. Their primary concern stemmed from Lara’s assertion that Richards’ leadership style involved harsh treatment of teammates, specifically claiming Richards made Hooper cry “once a week.”

Hooper denies Brian Lara’s claims

Hooper, who played alongside Lara for a longer period than Richards, vehemently denied Lara’s claims. He stated that Richards “never caused emotional distress” and consistently offered “encouraging mentorship and unwavering support.” Hooper described their nearly 40-year relationship as one built on “mutual respect and camaraderie.” The duo further criticized Lara’s portrayal of Richards as “a perpetrator of emotional abuse,” calling it “baseless” and “deeply hurtful.”

The joint statement stated, “Sir Vivian, as Mr Hooper’s first captain, has never caused emotional distress to Mr Hooper. On the contrary, he has always been an encouraging mentor and provided unwavering support. Their nearly 40-year relationship has been founded on mutual respect and camaraderie. The misrepresentation of their interactions in Mr. Lara’s book is a grave disservice to the truth and has caused undue distress to both parties and their families.”

Demanding retraction and apology from Brian Lara

Richards and Hooper further did not mince words in condemning Lara’s claims. They accused him of attempting to “profit from such deceit,” finding it “inconceivable” given Lara’s esteemed position in cricket. The statement concluded with a strong demand for a public retraction and a sincere apology from Lara, emphasizing the importance of setting the record straight “for the integrity of public discourse and their personal and professional lives.”

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Limited overlaps and contrasting views

It’s worth noting that Lara and Richards only played in one international match together, an ODI in 1991. Lara, however, shared the field with Hooper more extensively. He even captained Hooper and played under his leadership throughout his career.

Lara’s book reportedly portrays Richards as intimidating while offering high praise for Hooper’s batting talent. He described Hooper’s elegance at the crease as something even senior players like Richards, Desmond Haynes, and Gordon Greenidge would stop and admire.

Lara wrote, “Man, what a player. The ease with which he batted brought out a kind of awe in us, and in all of us, even the senior players. You felt that when Carl went out to bat, they enjoyed it – Haynes, Richards, Greenidge, all these guys would stop what they were doing just to watch him.”

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