Joe Clarke apologises for “terrible thing” after involvement in “sexist” game

Joe Clarke has faced a backlash from many who feel an England call up would be a step too far for the young batsman following a sordid Whatsapp game and incident in 2017

Notts batsman Joe Clarke has made his most fulsome apology yet for his involvement in a sordid Whatsapp sexual conquests game before seeing his former friend convicted of rape.

Clarke has taken a further step towards ‘owning what I did’ after admitting he ‘let down’ the victim who had willingly returned to his hotel room for consensual sex with him in 2017. It was after this took place when Clarke had ventured to the bathroom to be sick and then passed out, that former team-mate Alex Hepburn entered the room and forced himself on the initially sleeping victim.

Clarke was called as a witness in the trial and although the judge said that he had not done anything wrong that night, he derided the group chat as a ‘pathetic, sexist game.’ In it, Clarke, Hepburn and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, all playing for Worcestershire at the time, used terms such as ‘chop’ for sex, ‘freshies’ for first time encounters and ‘re-heats’ for those who the players had already had sex with.

One message from Hepburn read: “Got to be freshies, names, age, black or white, your rating, their rating. The loser has to buy dinner and the second loser will have to buy drinks, the winner gets to enjoy a free night…”

Clarke replied: “No re-heats allowed. If we don’t chop, me and you in your bed and (other friends) on my mattress. Probably will chop… so we’ll just have to both chop in your bed like the good old days.”

Hepburn was sentenced to five years in jail and since his release Clarke admits he no longer has a relationship with his one time ‘best friend.’ Now 25 and being spoken about as a potential England player this summer by new managing director Rob Key has rightly brought the subject back up again with a backlash on social and in mainstream media. It is why Clarke agreed to speak and begin the process of acknowledging that the victim should be placed first amongst this entire episode.

“This is not about playing for England,” Clarke told the Daily Telegraph. “This is about owning what I did, that I made a mistake and what I did was wrong. If there is a message in there for the victim, and if she were to read this, she will see that I know I let her down. Hopefully she will read that and she would not feel anything towards me in a bad way.

“I feel like I let her down. She was ultimately in my company and relied on me for her safety and I did not provide that. I feel like I let her down and I hope that she has found happiness that she deserves now and has managed to move on. It (the backlash) has been there. It has been more prominent the last few months in terms of the media and social media. I understand that.

“I have been pretty quiet talking about this. Initially I was quite scared to talk about it. I tried to avoid it and let the cricket do the talking but of course to be sitting here talking about it is good. It needs to happen and I have wanted to do it for a while. I’m happy I have the chance now and say how sorry I am for the involvement in all of it.

“It does not reflect the person I am now. Those messages were when I was 19, and I am not that person sitting here now. It is not nice to see [the backlash] but I completely understand where people are coming from. If I was not involved myself and it was someone else, I would feel the same way.”

Clarke insists he has tried to educate younger team-mates when it comes to dressing room behaviours since the episode, and he is now in talks about volunteering at local charities that deal with domestic violence and female victims of abuse.

“I have done a lot of reflecting,” he added “It is a feeling of embarrassment really. Regretful for being part of it. It does not reflect the person I am now. It is embarrassment and shame that I was involved in what was a terrible thing.

“I have tried to educate the younger lads in our dressing room. Hopefully the dressing rooms I go into now, to educate them and stop it from happening. I feel like it’s changed the culture of some sides and made them stop and realise if they were doing the same thing to stop that. They could potentially think it could have been me.”