I created 'se*ual game' WhatsApp group, it was a terrible idea: Tom Kohler-Cadmore

England Lions’ team players Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Joe Clarke had been removed from the squad that flew to India back in January of 2019. This happened due to their involvement in a WhatsApp group with the relation to the Alex Hepburn rape trial when both the cricketers were dropped for their off-field behavior.

The duo was involved in a se*ual conquest game on WhatsApp along with former Worcestershire player Alex Hepburn who was reportedly fired up by the contest to sleep with the most women and then carried out the se*ual assault on a sleeping woman back in April 2017, who thought that she was having sex with Hepburn’s county teammate Joe Clarke, but realized that she was raped by Hepburn, due to his Australian accent. Hepburn was sentenced to five years in jail

Tom Kohler-Cadmore admits the WhatsApp game was a terrible idea and in bad taste

Meanwhile, Kohler-Cadmore and Clarke weren’t charged as per reports, but the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was concerned about the tone of the messages. 3 years later, 25-year-old Kohler-Cadmore returned to the Lions’ white-ball squad and flew to Australia on Wednesday, his first appearance for the second-string side.

The Yorkshire batsman, along with Clarke, was fined £2,000 each by the ECB and were ordered to attend an educational course. The England board has insisted that Clarke’s sustained absence is based solely on performance – and he appears keen to own his mistake. “One hundred percent I was in the wrong. We all had our part to play in the group and it was meant as a bit of a joke. I know it’s not a joke now but it was never meant to be malicious,” Clarke was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

Kohler-Cadmore knows that he cannot get away from the proximity he has with the Hepburn case but insists he is a reformed person. He admitted his world crashed down when then England coach Andy Flower had removed him from the tour to India.

“They were my actions, I was part of it and I was the one that created the group. It was never meant to have any outcome like that, it was just us three being young, single lads. We were naive. I 100% respect the ECB’s decision, I know I was in the wrong, and it was a stupid mistake. I thought it was quite a fair punishment for me, and the rehabilitation course I went on, I felt it’s given me more knowledge on the area,” he added.

He further revealed that he has removed himself from all WhatsApp groups, given that he preferred to miss out on things rather than risking getting affiliated to something that he couldn’t control.

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