Christ Church Secondary School honours Hooper
Guyana Chronicle
April 3, 2007
EVEN if they did not know, the students of Christ Church Secondary School on Camp and Middle streets will now find out that former Guyana and West Indies captain Carl Llewellyn Hooper was a student there.
On Saturday afternoon, a huge billboard (2.4 x 3.6 metres) was unveiled at the school depicting the former West Indies player in his glory with the bat.
The building of the board and the repainting of the school (another initiative) was organised by the Old Students’ Society of the school. Money for the two ventures came from fundraisers and well-wishers.
At the unveiling ceremony, president of the Guyana Cricket Board, Chetram Singh, who delivered the feature address charged the school to produce another Carl Hooper. “Carl (Hooper) was a disciplined person … you (the students) need discipline to achieve anything in life. Carl would want you students to be very disciplined and look after your education.”
Hooper was a right-handed master with the bat; his shots were flawless, overshadowing his useful off-break bowling. The 40-year-old, who now lives in Australia, played 102 Test matches in which he scored 5 762 runs at an average of 36.46. He was also able to snarl 114 wickets at an average of 49.42 in the bowling department.
Cricket commentator Naim Chan also spoke at the ceremony, and like Singh he charged the school’s students to follow in the footsteps of Hooper, not necessarily following his cricketing skills but his humble nature.
Former West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul took some time out to grace the occasion with his presence just before the unveiling took place. (Faizool Deo)