Who is Carl Hooper: 5 interesting facts about former West Indies batter who Brian Lara called better than Sachin Tendulkar
West Indian legend Brian Lara is in the news of late for having mentioned the innate talent that former cricketer Carl Hooper possessed. Lara even went as far as to say that neither he nor Sachin Tendulkar 'came close' to Hooper's talent.
"Carl was easily one of the best players I've ever seen. I would say that not even Tendulkar and I would come close to that talent. Separate Carl's career from playing to captaining and his numbers are very different. As a captain, he averaged nearly 50, so he enjoyed the responsibility. It's sad that only as a captain did he fulfill his true potential," Lara wrote in his new book, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Hooper was one of the most enigmatic characters in international cricket and liked to remain under the radar without ever bothering anyone too much. However, his skill with both bat and ball in hand was almost unmatched.
Having led the West Indies in his storied career, Hooper is a widely respected cricketer across the Caribbean and remains someone whom a lot of young players look up to and single out for advice.
In this listicle, we take a look at five interesting facts about Carl Hooper.
#1 He is a member of the 100-Test club
Hooper is among the very few international cricketers who have played in more than a hundred Tests.
Although the West Indies selectors often neglected him towards the latter half of his career, he ended up with 102 Test caps.
The stylish batter was one of the mainstays in the West Indies lineup in the mid-90s and played vital knocks for them with his back to the wall on most occasions.
He was rewarded for his longevity with the 102 Test caps that he earned, in which he made himself and his nation immensely proud.
#2 Carl Hooper scored more than 10,000 runs in international cricket
Hooper also counts himself to be among those very few cricketers who have scored more than 10,000 runs in international cricket.
His tally includes 5762 runs in Tests and 5761 runs in ODIs. In the longer format of the game, he scored 13 centuries and 27 half-centuries while against the white ball, he amassed seven centuries and 29 half-centuries.
His highest score in Tests was 233 while it was an unbeaten 133 in ODI cricket; he will always be remembered for the flair with which he scored his runs.
#3 He is among the few who have scored both a hundred and a duck in the same Test
What makes Hooper's career extremely interesting to follow is that he is among the very few who have scored both a century and a duck in the same Test match.
The 58-year-old achieved this feat against Pakistan in Karachi when he got out for zero in the first innings but came back strongly to score 106 in the second.
It is worth noting that a young Shivnarine Chanderpaul joined him in this club a few months later when he scored 118 and 0 against England in Georgetown.
#4 He even played in T20s
One may think this to be a tad far-fetched, but it is a fact that Hooper has also played in a few T20s in his illustrious career, albeit never for the West Indies.
The Guyanese was a regular in the English county circuit, and played in ten Twenty20 matches for Lancashire in 2003 and 2004. He was a part of the county's team for the inaugural competition in this format.
He came in to bat at number four in his Twenty20 debut against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in Nottingham in June 2003 and got to eight before being caught by Bilal Shafayat off Greg Smith.
#5 He came out of retirement to lead the Windies
One of the most interesting facts about Hooper's career is that he came out of retirement to lead them.
He announced his retirement shortly ahead of the 1999 World Cup but made a comeback in 2001, directly as the captain of the Windies.
He even led the side in the 2003 World Cup although the West Indies did not progress beyond the second round of the competition.
He also holds the accolade of being the first cricketer in the world to have scored 5,000 runs, taken 100 wickets, held 100 catches and received 100 caps in both ODIs and Tests. This has only been matched by Jacques Kallis ever since.