Carl Llewelyn Hooper (born 15 December 1966) is a former Guyanese cricketer who captained the West Indies in Tests and ODIs. An all-rounder, he was a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler, who came to prominence in the late 1980s in a side that included such players as Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh and represented the West Indies over a 16-year international career.
Playing career
Rise in ranks
Hooper first represented the West Indies at youth level and eventually became a regular for Guyana in senior regional tournaments. He later captained Guyana to triumphantly claim three regional List A titles in 1996, 1999 and 2002.
Hooper went on to make his Test debut against India in 1987, scoring his maiden century in only his second test of that tour. During the West Indies' 1991 tour of England, Hooper notched 111 with 14 fours and a six, at Lords. As well he starred as the overall topscorer with 290 runs, in the 1995 home ODI series against Australia, which the Windies won by a 4-1 margin. He was later named man of the match, scoring 81 and picking up 5 for 26 in the drawn second test of Sri Lanka's 1997 tour of the Windies, played at the Arnos Vale Stadium in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. As well he was named player of the series for the 1997-98 Singer Akai Champions Trophy, where the Windies were defeated by England in the tournament's final.
During 1992 he joined English county cricket side Kent. Hooper went on to win the batting award, as top scorer with 773 runs, of the 1994 AXA Equity & Law League. His highest score for the club, 236 not out, came against Glamorgan at Canterbury. With his best bowling figures for Kent, 7 for 93, coming in 1998 against Surrey at The Oval. He later won the 1998 Walter Lawrence Trophy, which he shared with Ali Brown. Hooper eventually spent six years at the English side and was later described by Jo Harman of Wisden as Kent's greatest overseas player of all time. During 2003 Hooper joined Lancashire. During his first season with that side he became only the second player to have scored a century against all 18 county cricket teams. During that season he also scored over 1,100 runs for Lancashire in the County Cricket Championship.
Playing style
As a very stylish, elegant and graceful batsman, Hooper was also a potent off spinner and nimble slip fielder. He was usually placed in the slip cordon, taking numerous catches there, for the most part, in his cricketing career.
Ray Illingworth noted that Hooper's "off-spin is underrated" In his autobiography, Steve Waugh writes that "quickness of feet and sweet yet brutally efficient stroke play were Hooper's trademarks." Wasim Akram has rated Hooper as "one of the top batsmen West Indies produced". Shane Warne also thought very highly of Hooper's footwork and, in 2008, named him among the top 100 cricketers of his time, citing in particular his ability to disguise his dances down the track. Warne felt that determining when a batsman was going to give the charge was one of the most important things for a spinner, and that Hooper was the best at making it indeterminable. "During the 1995 series," he wrote, "this really nagged away at me, because I couldn't spot any of the usual clues even though I knew there had to be a sign that would give him away. On a number of occasions, I stopped at the point of delivery to see if he was giving anything away with his footwork. Most batsmen would be looking to get out of their ground at that point, whereas Hooper just stayed set. In the end, after watching him closely time after time, I managed to crack it. When he wanted to hit over the top, he just looked at me instead of tapping his crease as usual and looking down. Of course, my knowing what he was going to do did not always stop him from doing it."
Hooper struggled early in his career, averaging just 26.08 in his first 38 Tests. However, following his breakthrough 178 not out against Pakistan in 1993, he went on to average 45.60 over his next 58 matches.