New Delhi: Former West Indies cricketers Viv Richards and Carl Hooper have slammed Brian Lara for making ‘baseless’ allegations against the duo in his recently launched book. In a joint statement, Richards and Hooper said they were left disheartened by the claims made by Lara in the book: The England Chronicles.
In the book, Lara claimed Richards used to make him cry every three weeks and Hopper at least once every week. The legendary batter revealed in the book that Richards used to love Hooper a lot and shared great fondness for him. However, he insisted Hooper used to shy away from Richards, who had an intimidating voice which was strong enough to affect a player who was mentally not strong.
Lara also mentioned in the book that he used to rarely get affected by Richards’ intimidating attitude and abuse coming from his side as he had a strong personality. Lara’s claims have been rubbished by both Richards and Hooper, who said the allegations made in the book not only distort the relationship between the duo but also paint Richards in bad light.
“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 in his book.
Debunking the statement from Lara, Hooper and Richards called his claims baseless in their joint statement. They also slammed the former West Indies captain for maligning Richards’ character through his comments in the book.
“Sir Vivian Richards and Mr. Carl Hooper are deeply disheartened by the gross misrepresentations made about them in Mr. Brian Lara’s recently released book. The allegations presented not only distort the reality of their relationship but also impugn their characters in an unjust and harmful manner,” said the joint statement from Richards and Hooper.
“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 – and assertion that is not only baseless but also deeply hurtful to both parties,” it added.
Richards and Cooper demand apology from Lara
Richards, who is regarded as one of the greatest batters of all time, played just one game with Lara during his international career. The duo featured together for West Indies in an ODI against England at Lord’s in 1991 and were involved in a 20-run stand in the match. Lara made his international debut in 1990 while Richards retired from international cricket in 1993.
Meanwhile, Hooper, who made his West Indies debut in 1987, played for a number of years with Lara. He captained the West Indies team with Lara in it and also played under the latter’s captaincy. The duo demanded an apology from Lara, asking him to retract his false claims.
“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,” the duo said in the statement.
The joint statement from Richards and Hooper has come as a shock to many as Lara had praised both in his book. While hailing Hooper’s talent, Lara raved that neither him nor Sachin Tendulkar stood a chance in front of the former West Indies batter as far as his talent was concerned.
West Indies legend Viv Richards and Carl Hooper have slammed Brian Lara for making ‘baseless’ claims about the duo in his book. Lara alleged in his book that Richards used to make him cry at least once in three weeks and Hooper once every week. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
