Brian Lara New Book Controversy: Brian Lara's new book — LARA The England Chronicles — hit the shelves recently but has attracted controversy over the claims made by the West Indies batting legend in it. While Lara claimed that Viv Richards was a hard taskmaster and used to make him and Carl Hooper cry with his "intimidating tone of voice" when he was the captain, the players in question Richards and Hooper say this is far from the truth.
While Lara has claimed in his book that Richards method of disciplining his teammates was such that it would affect anyone who was "not strong", Richards and Hooper, have now, in fact, issued a joint statement in which they have demanded an apology.
"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," read one of the controversial passages from the book.
"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," Lara adds in his book.
Vivian Richards, Carl Hooper Disheartened By Gross Misrepresentations
However, Richards and Hooper have said that they have been grossly misrepresented.
"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," read their joint statement.
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"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 – an assertion that is not only baseless but also deeply hurtful to both parties," it added.
"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," a part of their elaborate statement read.