Viv Richards, Carl Hooper accuse Brian Lara of lying in new book, seek apology for claiming 'Viv would make Carl cry'

Former West Indies captains Viv Richards and Carl Hooper have accused Brian Lara of making false claims in his newly launched book 'LARA The England Chronicles'.

Former cricketers creating controversies through books is nothing. In the past several former cricketers left the cricketing world shellshocked by making some shocking revelations. Starting from the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, and Kevin Pietersen to Shoaib Akhtar, some of the biggest names in the game did create controversies through their autobiographies.

And Brian Lara has also managed to raise a number of eyebrows by sharing some unheard tales in his book. In one of the excerpts, he revealed how Viv Richards used to make the players fear him with his intimidating persona.

The legendary West Indian stated that Viv Richards used to 'make him cry every three weeks' and Carl Hooper 'once a week'. Brian Lara said that although Richards' words were only for the betterment of the team, the players used to get terrified.

"I will say this: 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," said Brian Lara.

Viv Richards, Carl Hooper react to Brian Lara's claim:

Brian Lara's claims have not gone down well with both Viv Richards and Carl Hooper and both the former captains have released a joint statement. In the statement, they have not only denied the claims but have accused their former teammate of 'grossly misinterpreting' the actual events and 'attempting to profit from such deceit'.

Through the statement, the former cricketers stated that Richards never caused emotional distress to Hooper and their long relationship 'has been founded on mutual respect and camaraderie. They have demanded that Brian Lara publicly retract the false claims and offer a sincere apology.

"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.

"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.

"Sir Vivian, as Mr. Hooper's first captain, has never caused emotional distress to Mr. Hooper. On the contrary, he has always acted as an encouraging mentor and provided unwavering support. Their nearly 40-year relationship has been founded on mutual respect and camaraderie. The misrepresentation of their interactions in Mr. Lara's book is a grave disservice to the truth and has caused undue distress to both parties and their families.

"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," added the statement.

Lara, Richards, and Hooper are three of West Indies' most decorated cricketers. All three played more than 100 Tests for their team. Lara is still the all-time highest run-scorer for West Indies in Tests while Richards and Hooper are at the third and 12th spot respectively.