A CRICKETER raped a woman after finding her asleep in his flatmate’s bed, a court heard.
Alex Hepburn, 23, allegedly attacked her after she had consensual sex with his team-mate Joe Clarke.
The cricketers, then both with Worcestershire, started a sexual conquest contest just days earlier via WhatsApp, jurors were told.
The court heard the alleged victim met ex-England Lions player Clarke, 22, at a club before having sex at his flat.
She fell asleep on his bed while Clarke passed out by the loo, it was said.
Australian-born Hepburn, who is said to have drunk 20 bottles of beer, then returned to the property in Malvern, Worcs.
Prosecutor Miranda Moore QC said: “Next thing the woman could remember was a man straddling her shoulders.
“She thought it was Joe being cheeky and went along with it.
“She felt his hair and heard his voice and realised it wasn’t Joe because of Hepburn’s distinctive Australian accent.”
She fled and was found “distressed and crying” by a passer-by who called the police in the early hours of April 1, 2017.
On March 30, the cricketers started a WhatsApp “Stat Chat”, group where they would reveal sexual encounters with girls known as “freshies”.
Hepburn said in one message read out to Worcester crown court: “Excited as f*** lads, Clarkey the shags have to be legit? May the best man win. P.S. We should probably get tested this summer.”
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He posted in another: “Got to be freshies, names, age, black or white, your rating, their rating.”
Hepburn denies two counts of rape.
The trial continues.
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