HOOPER: Carl Llewellyn
D.O.B: December 15, 1966
Teams: Guyana, Kent, West Indies

Carl Hooper was an elegant, touch player, a steady off-spinner and an excellent slipper who played 102 Test matches and 227 One Day Internationals for the West Indies in a career spanning 16 years between 1987 and 2003.

His was a very special talent, evident from his early days at the Christ Church Secondary School and the Inter-county Youth tourney, prompting many cricketing pundits to pronounce that his final figures at the end of his career were not truly reflective of the enormous ability he possessed.

He dominated the Regional Youth tournaments for three successive years (1984-1986) like no one else had done before or since. In 1985, in Guyana, he carted off all the individual awards including the highest aggregate (404 runs); the best average (80.80); the highest individual score (180 vs Leeward Islands); the most wickets in the tournament (33); and the best bowling analysis in a match (11 for 66 vs Windward Islands).

It was not surprising, therefore, that in February 1985-at age 18-he was selected as part of the Guyana senior team to contest the then Shell Shield competition.

In the opening encounter at the Kensington Oval, Barbados amassed 384 in their first innings and had Guyana tottering at 51 for four with the top batters all gone to the prowling pacers Roddy Estwick and Wayne Daniel.

Hooper then proceeded to compile one of the most exquisite and classical innings in regional cricket as he endeared himself to the Barbadian public, mesmerised by his serene display of sheer elegance, peerless timing and precise placement.

His was the last wicket to fall-run out for a superbly magnificent 126 out of a total of 271 which earned Guyana a draw and Hooper the greatest respect of the Bajans who christened him “Sir Carl” and supported him throughout his tenure at the top.

Soon “Cool Carl” was on the trip to New Zealand with the West Indies senior team to engage in a series of three Tests and three One Day Internationals in 1986-87.
Though he did not play in any of the five-day games, he was involved in all the 50-over matches constructing a composed 48 on debut at Dunedin, and capturing three for 27 off six overs in the final clash at Christchurch.

He was part of the West Indies failed attempt of lifting the 1987 World Cup in Asia and later in the year he made his Test debut in the second game of the four-match series in Bombay. He posted a polished 37 in a drawn game but stroked his way to an even hundred in the very next engagement in New Delhi.

On the same trip he registered his maiden ODI hundred-an unbeaten 113 at Gwalior-and plucked a handful of wickets which helped to establish himself as a budding all-rounder at the international level especially in the shorter version of the game.

However, after the flamboyant start to his career he had a string of mediocre performances and was guilty of ‘gifting’ his wicket away on numerous instances. He only remained in the side on the strength of his undoubted ability and the evidence of a couple of top quality knocks he managed to put together in between.

Perhaps the turning point of his career took place on the tour to England in 1991 when he not only topped the tour averages with a staggering 93.81 runs per innings but the overall first-class averages in that English season as well.

He then had five productive seasons for Kent (1993-1998) which fashioned him into a more professional player and subsequently his overall cricket improved.

This was evident in him scoring only his second One Day century against New Zealand in 1994 (113*) after he had cracked his first some six years earlier. In 1993 against the Pakistani’s in Antigua, he crafted a truly magnificent undefeated 178 which cricket analysts believe was his best ever effort.

When the Australians visited the region in 1995 he averaged 72.50 in the limited overs series and took Shane Warne apart in the first innings of the Barbados Test after he appeared at the crease with the West Indies innings in tatters at six runs for the loss of three wickets.

On the tour to England in 1995, based on his technical correctness and the failure of the regular openers, he was requested to start the innings which he did with a fair degree of success. Yet he wanted to return home in the midst of the tour as cracks began to appear in relation to bitter struggles within the team.

In 1998-99, he was involved in an infamous stand-off with the West Indies Cricket Board on the eve of the regional team’s historic first trip to South Africa. Though the tour eventually took place the West Indies were battered 5-nil in the Tests and 6-1 in the ODIs.

It is significant that in the only match the West Indies won, Hooper stroked a fluent 108 and was involved in a huge stand with his fellow Guyanese Shiv Chanderpaul who helped himself to a personal best 150.

When Steve Waugh’s Australians toured the Caribbean in 1999, Hooper did not feature in the first two matches of the series in Jamaica and Trinidad as he was delayed in Australia to be with his sick child.

Upon his return he contested the third Test in Barbados but totalled a mere 31 runs and took two for 50 in the only innings he bowled as the West Indies squeezed to victory on the heels of Brian Lara’s riveting, world-class century.

During the course of the match, Hooper dropped a bombshell by announcing his retirement from International cricket at the end of the series. He did play in the final Test in Antigua without distinguishing himself but missed the World Cup in England later that year.

He returned from his base in Australia in 2001 to captain Guyana in the regional Busta Cup competition and had a phenomenal season aggregating 954 runs at the remarkable average of 99.75 per innings, striking four tons in the process.

Then, after signalling his intentions to emerge from his self-imposed exile from international cricket, he was selected as captain for the West Indies five-match home encounter against the South Africans later the same year.

He also led the team overseas against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka (2001); Pakistan, India and New Zealand at home (2002); and as guests of the Indians (2002-03).

As captain he moulded the side into a competitive unit and led from the front. In fact in the 22 Tests in which he was in charge he averaged a commendable 45.97 run per innings compared to his overall figure of 36.46.

During this time he chalked up four Test hundreds including his career best 233 against India at Bourda where he had played many years for the Georgetown Cricket Club.

Hooper also led the team in several One Day International series and the World Cup in South Africa in 2003. All along his off-spinners were employed with reasonable success and his fielding, especially his catching was making a positive impact on the team’s overall performances.

After Ridley Jacobs led the team to Bangladesh at the end of 2002, Brian Lara was recalled for a second term against Australia in the Caribbean at the dawning of 2003 and Hooper called it a day.

The Guyanese international is one of only two players in the history of cricket to have achieved the triple of 5 000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in both forms of the game.

Hooper now lives with his family in Australia and sporadically appears on the field of play mainly for charitable reasons.

RECORD
TESTS: 102            RUNS: 5762              AVG: 36.46          HS: 233 vs India, 2002
WKTS: 114             AVG: 49.42               BB: 5/26 vs Sri Lanka, St. Vincent, 1997

ODIs: 227               RUNS: 5761               AVG: 35.34          HS: 113* vs NZ, 1994
WKTS: 193             AVG: 36.05                BB: 4/34 vs Pakiatan, Karachi, 1991.

(Digicel: Guyana’s Bigger, Better  Network).