Hooper returns for Red Stripe

Former West Indies cricket captain Carl Hooper, who declined selection during the recent Australian Test series, seems intent on making a return to regional cricket.

Newsday has learnt  that Hooper, who has been scoring heavily for Lancashire in the English Second Division County Championship, will play for Guyana in the upcoming Red Stripe Bowl one-day regional tournament in October. “We will be finalising all details this week, but we can say that Carl Hooper wants to play for Guyana again and he has made himself available for selection when he was contacted by the Guyana Cricket Board,”  President of the GCB, Chetram Singh said. “When he was contacted, he was very eager to return to play for Guyana, and we are very much interested in having someone of the calibre of Carl Hooper on the team. But this comes as no surprise to us here, because Carl has always said he was interested, and recently he sent an e-mail saying he will be here. We just need to finalise the dates and time,” Singh added.

Singh was uncertain about the captaincy of the Guyana team.
“We have not yet discussed that, but of course Carl Hooper would be considered for such a post once he is interested, but we will take things one at a time. As everyone can see Carl is in great form with the bat and his presence would certainly assist our chances in the Red Stripe Bowl,” Singh said. On the question of a recall to the West Indies team Singh said the matter  is up to the West Indies selectors. “Carl can only go out there and score runs and leave it up to them. He has never openly stated he does not want to play for the West Indies. He said at the time he was stepping down to give a younger batsman a chance. “We must be honest and admit that Carl Hooper is still one of the better batsman in the West Indies. Just examine the interest that county cricket team have in him. Let us give him a chance to return and play for Guyana and see what happens after that. But we would have further details on Hooper very shortly,” noted Singh. Hooper leads the Lancashire averages now, having scored 1,074 runs from 11 matches which includes a best of 177 against Warwickshire.