Legendary West Indies cricketers Viv Richards and Carl Hooper have strongly denied claims made by their former teammate Brian Lara in his new book, “Lara: The England Chronicles.”
Richards and Hooper responded in a joint statement on Sunday, describing Lara’s claims as “gross misrepresentations.”
In his book, Lara suggested that Richards’ behavior in the dressing room was intimidating and made Hooper cry once a week.
“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,” Lara wrote.
Richards and Hooper have called these claims “categorically false.” They insist that their relationship was based on mutual respect and camaraderie, with Richards acting as a supportive mentor to Hooper. Hooper emphasized that Richards never caused him any distress and always had his back.
“The claim that Sir Vivian was aggressive towards Mr. Hooper and made him cry once a week is categorically false. Such descriptions paint Sir Vivian as a perpetrator of emotional abuse – an assertion that is not only baseless but also deeply hurtful to both parties,” the statement read.
“Sir Vivian, as Mr. Hooper’s first captain, has never caused emotional distress to Mr. Hooper. On the contrary, he has always acted as 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,” the statement further added.
The joint statement expressed their disappointment with Lara for “attempting to profit from such deceit,” considering his status in cricket. Richards and Hooper have demanded a public retraction and an apology from Lara.
“We demand that Mr. Lara immediately issues a public retraction of these false claims and offer a sincere apology for the harm caused. It is crucial for the integrity of public discourse and their personal and professional lives that the truth is set right.”
Lara’s book includes an extract where he praises Hooper’s talent, calling him one of the finest players from the Caribbean. Despite this, the controversy over Lara’s allegations has overshadowed the positive remarks.
Lara and Richards only played together once in an international match, an ODI at Lord’s in 1991, where they shared a brief 20-run partnership. In contrast, Lara and Hooper had a long history together in the West Indies team, playing numerous matches and even captaining each other.
