New Delhi

Former West Indies cricketer Brian Lara is in the eye of a storm over his new book LARA The England Chronicles. His former teammates, Vivian Richards and Carl Hooper, have slammed him for claiming in the book that they made him cry. In a joint statement, Hooper and Richards have asked Lara to explain his claims. Notably, Lara says in the book that Richards, as captain, used to "make him cry every three weeks" and Hooper "once a week".

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"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," an excerpt from his book reads. 

Lara states in the book that Richards was a hard taskmaster and his way of speaking was terrifying. He justifies it by saying that he did it all for the betterment of the team.

Hooper and Richards have also accused Lara of "grossly misinterpreting" what actually happened and of "attempting to profit from such deceit". 

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In the statement, both of them have termed all the allegations made by Lara as false. Hooper and Richards say that their former teammate's words have left them "disheartened". It adds that the Richards' portrayal by Lara presents him "as a perpetrator of emotional abuse". Richards' conduct was anything but rude, ill-mannered or intimidating in any form, the statement reads. 

"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."

They add that the description raises a question about their characters. 

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"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.

Notably, Lara played only one match with Richards after debuting in 1990, while Hooper and he were teammates for 15 years. 

Controversies over cricketer biographies

Biographies of cricketers have often triggered rows and stirred up controversies. Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography carried some shocking revelations, including one where he says that Greg Chappell approached him for India captaincy just months before the 2007 World Cup. Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar in his book claimed how Tendulkar's legs were shaking while facing him once.