A remarkable middle-order batsman and off-spinner, Carl Hooper was renowned for his lazy elegance with both the bat and the ball. There has never been a more talented under-performer in the history of the game than Carl Hooper. As a debutant in 1987, Hooper scored a century against India in his very second match at Calcutta.
Although he played 15 years as a batsman, he was very inconsistent and rarely delivered the results he was capable of during that time. Due to the high praise he received from his peers, this is even more unfortunate. In the 1990s, he was regarded as one of the best players by Steve Waugh and Shane Warne, with the former including him in his top 100.
Cricket legend Jacques Kallis has only been able to match Hooper’s feat of scoring 5,000 runs, taking 100 wickets, holding 100 catches, and receiving 100 caps in both ODIs and Tests. Even after coming out of retirement, he became the captain of the West Indies, and it brought out his best. A disappointing World Cup performance forced him to give way to Brian Lara after he averaged more than 50 in his time as captain.
After retiring, Hooper coached local clubs in Adelaide, Australia, where he lived since the late 1990s. Batsmen of his abilities and charms should be reckless in their duty if they average in the mid-thirties. For two years, he averaged more than 50 when he assumed the captaincy after a prolonged absence.was replaced by Brian Lara and once more reverted to semi-retirement.
In the 5th match of the Willis World Series at Guwahati on Ist November 1994, Carl Hooper scored a wonderful inning of 111 of 114 balls including 11 fours. That helped West Indies to beat New Zealand by 135 runs. The useful off-spinner also captured 1 for 28 in 10 overs and was declared man of the match award.
Carl was born in Guyana on 15 December 1966. As a Test and One-Day international captain of the West Indies, who were you? Over a 16-year international career, he was an all-rounder, a right-handed batsman, and an off-spin bowler for the West Indies, where he played with players such as Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Malcolm Marshall, and Courtney Walsh. In 2001, Hooper made a surprise comeback as captain of the West Indies after announcing his retirement three weeks before the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
During the 2001-2 home series against India, he captained the side in 22 Tests. With the captaincy, his batting average improved (45.97 as captain, compared to 36.46 overall). In 2002, he scored 233 in the first match of a test series against India at Bourda, Guyana. He has made 5,762 runs in his Test cricket career.
Hooper played county cricket for Kent and Lancashire and represented Guyana at the local first-class level. Harman considered Hooper the best overseas player Kent ever had. The 2003 season also saw Hooper become only the second player in county cricket history to score a century against all 18 teams.
A number of cricket legends have praised Hooper’s footwork, including Wasim Akram who called him “as good as any batsman West Indies has produced.” Shane Warne ranked Hooper among the top 100 cricketers of all time, praising his ability to disguise his dances.