Hooper Drowned in Sea of Politics
Fri, Apr 11, '03
The name Carl Llewellyn Hooper ignites heated debates in Guyana and throughout the region like no other present day cricketer.
Just when it seemed the region?s most talked about, most criticized, and most elegant batsman was enjoying a second breath in his rollercoaster career and molding a young team into a fighting unit, the 36-year-old all-rounder was sacked as West Indies skipper and replaced by 33-year-old Brian Lara.
Still good enough to command a place in the regional side with his improved test record since taking over as skipper in 2001, Hooper was picked in a 14-man squad for the first test on his home ground Bourda.
Four days before the first test the super cool veteran of 312 first class games, 102 test matches and 227 one-day-internationals announced he is pulling out of the team much to the disappointment of his many adoring fans and even some of his critics who know the value of his spin bowling on the dead Bourda track.
Reliable sources claim the stylish Guyanese was willing to play under anyone -- even a young player -- except Brian Lara, who it is reported in the British press, informed the WICB that Hooper was having problems with his knees and would not be fit to play against the Australians.
Hooper's response was a majestic unbeaten 130 in the Carib Beer regional four-day first class semi-final -- his twelfth regional and sixty-first hundred at first class level. He also bowled 40 overs for good measure.
When asked about the report at a press conference the day before the first test Lara said Hooper was not quoted as saying anything in the news story which was also carried by regional media houses.
With a total lack of timing and sensitivity, Hooper was informed by president of the WICB -- the smooth talking Reverend Wes Hall -- that he was no longer needed as captain. This was done in the middle of his important innings against Jamaica.
Hooper has not been the best West Indies skipper ever. But the manner in which he was given the boot -- after chairman of selectors Sir Viv Richards had publicly given his support for his reinstatement -- left a lot to be desired by the WICB, a board now prone to embarrassing errors and frequent rows with its players.
His record as captain will not set the world on fire (22 matches, four wins, 11 defeats and seven draws) and his at times defensive approach raised questions about his tactics on the field.
But replacing Hooper with Lara, whose record as captain is just as uninspiring (18 matches, six wins, 10 defeats and two draws) seems a backward step at this period in West Indies cricket.
Those who questioned his inconsistent batting saw an improvement with the responsible of captaincy. His 22 games at captain produced 1,609 runs, with a highest score 233, Average of 45.97 with four centuries and nine fifties in comparison to his 4,153 runs from 80 matches not as captain at an average of 33.76 with nine hundreds and 18 fifties.
Lara is without question the best bat in the team and arguably, in the world at present. But his 1,504 runs (ave. 50.3) from 18 games with three hundreds and nine half-centuries with a highest score of 153 not out is not much different a batting record as captain from Hooper's.
Hooper, the only player to take over 100 wickets, claim over 100 catches and score over 5000 runs in both test and ODIs, took a beaten side from Jimmy Adams and, without Walsh and Ambrose, molded the young team into a united bunch of players. Players like Samuels, Sarwan, Gayle and Lawson began to slowly emerge as potential world stars.
Lara's presence in the side since 1998 has not helped much in the team winning and despite his tremendous run of form against Sri Lanka the West Indies were crushed 3-nil.
In fact, since 1998 the West Indies has won only one series (against India at home last year when Hooper scored the most runs-579, Ave 82.71 to Lara?s 202, Ave. 28.85) with Lara in the team as opposed to victories against Zimbabwe (twice), Pakistan and Bangladesh without Lara in the side.
After a poor World Cup and a decrease of runs in his last six tests, many felt that if the selectors thought Hooper was not good enough to make the team then Lara -- who only recently said he was not interested in the job -- could be used as an interim skipper as someone young was groomed.
If the selectors feel Hooper is still worth his place in the side then who better could you find to help develop new vice captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, who has played with Hooper for GCC, Guyana and the West Indies and who has nothing but respect for the sacked West Indies captain?
Hooper's contribution to the development of West Indies cricket goes way beyond the boundary. He is a god fearing team man whose goal is to see West Indies cricket rise again. He is like a father figure in the side and lets his players know that they are a team and not a group of individuals playing for themselves.
Records and playing just for money mean little to Hooper. This was evident in his record breaking 2001 season when he opted to allow his younger batsmen to get a knock at Albion ahead of the final when (with close to 900 runs) he could have gone out to bat in a match already decided to attempt to reach 1000 runs and the lucrative cash prize to reward the feat.
Ask any of the Guyana players and they will tell you that Hooper's primary objective is the development of the young players and team's success instead of personal glory.
Even to the end, Hooper put West Indies cricket first in deciding to quit. He reasoned that if he was not needed to lead the young brigade of talented players then his place in the side would mean the omission of a young player.
Lara says he has matured and wants the top job in the team once again after giving it up three years ago. Few argue that Lara is a great batsman who has been groomed for, and who desired, the West captaincy from his teenage years.
However, his past indiscretions, as recent as his 'behaviour' in the nets in South Africa in the World Cup along with his tendencies to show that he is the star of the team and not one of the boys, makes him far from the ideal person needed to built a young team. Lara has however said he has changed and is more experienced now both on and off the field. Time will tell if that is true.
Hooper's leadership style, especially off the field, was showing signs of success among the young players. Hooper the LEADER (not just captain on the field) was more needed than Hooper the player, at this juncture of our cricket.
So if the selectors felt that Hooper was still one of the best batsmen and front line spinner in the team (as they did by picking him for the first test) why take the captaincy away from him and give someone who is in the same age group and who, according to sources close to the team, is not a favorite among many of the players.
This is indeed a sad end to the career of a man who has given 16 years of his life to West Indies cricket and, with the support of his loving wife Connie, now seemed at peace with himself.
Hooper, in much the same way as Clive Lloyd did, improved his batting average with the maturity of age and the responsibility of captaincy.
Hooper's presence in the team as utility player (classy batsman, steady off spinner and safe catcher) will be sorely missed as West Indies go into battle against the mighty Australians.
One hopes that the WICB treat the former captain with the respect he deserves and use him in some capacity to help bring West Indies cricket back to the glory days it once knew in the 1980s.
Then again, would Hooper, who lives in Australia, want to be a servant of an administration which he feels stabbed him in the back after he was asked to stay on after the world cup by the legendary Sir Viv Richards and who accepted the job of leading an ailing side when all seemed lost two years ago?
Hooper has been accused of a lack of commitment after he called it quits in 1999 in Barbados. But one must not forget that Lara also walked out of a tour in England and had to be persuaded to stay on by the president of the WICB. He also claimed that cricket was ruining his life and has scored just a single century at an average of 36.9 in the 10 test matches lost under his captaincy.
His highest score is 31 in the two test matches drawn under his captaincy. Hooper averages 33.25 with a highest score of 84 not out in the 11 tests lost when he was at the helm. In the seven tests drawn under his captaincy he has two centuries at an average of 69.66.
Both Lara and Hooper average above 50 and have two centuries each in the matches that were won under their captaincy.
The record of the two as captain suggest that there is no big difference and one wonders if changing the skipper would make a difference to the outcome of this series. I think not. But we will wait and see.
A captain is as good as his team and every true West Indian should wish Lara smooth sailing as he attempts to take the rocking West Indies ship, muddied with insularity and short of competent manpower, to a higher ground in the International world of cricket.
To 'Sir' Carl, thank you for providing ecstatic delight with those exquisite cover drives, graceful late cuts and breath-taking paddle sweeps. And even though the runs never matched the immense God given talent, the joy of being able to witness the elegance of poetry in motion in his majestic stroke-play can hardly be surpassed.
Hooper will be remembered by his fans not as another cast aside former West Indies player, but as someone who came back to give his time and energies to the resurrection of West Indies cricket.
He was drowned in the sea of politics, greed, indiscipline and dishonesty which now threatens to destroy the one thing, above all things, that has kept West Indian people united and proud since 1928-West Indies cricket.
* Sean Devers is a Guyana-based ball-by-ball cricket commentator and journalist.