A WOMAN wept as she described how she woke up to discover a Worcestershire County cricketer raping her in a dark bedroom, believing she had been having sex with his teammate, a court heard.

Worcestershire County cricketer Alex Hepburn, dressed in a grey suit, appeared at Worcester Crown Court today for the first day of his trial.

The 23-year-old,of Portland Street, Diglis, Worcester, denies two counts of rape against a woman in a city flat on April 1, 2017, claiming sexual activity was consensual and that the complainant was awake at the time.

Miranda Moore QC opened the prosecution case, telling the jury that the complainant had been 'horrified' and 'devastated' to learn that she had sex with Hepburn instead of his then teammate, Joe Clarke who now plays for Nottinghamshire.

Miss Moore referred to a WhatsApp group joined by all-rounder Hepburn and batsman Mr Clarke and read out messages about 'the game', a competition between the men to see who could have sex with the most women in Worcester.

Miss Moore said: "This game had precious little to do with cricket."

A video interview was played to the jury of four men and eight women during which the complainant said she had consensual sex with Hepburn's teammate, Joe Clarke, at a city flat before she went to sleep.

She told her an interviewing police officer she had not realised Mr Clarke had left the room when she had sex with Hepburn for around 10 minutes, believing the man on the mattress with her was Mr Clarke.

That night she had been out at city nightclubs Sin and Bushwackers, describing herself as 'five or six out of 10' on a scale of drunkenness.

She said: "I remember assuming it was Joe. I realised it wasn't Joe. I remember being sort of really dazed. I didn't know what was going on."

The woman said Hepburn told her she was 'beautiful' but she said at this stage she panicked, saying 'where's Joe?' She told the the officer that Hepburn had grunted in reply and said: "What are you talking about?"

She described how she locked herself in the bathroom and called her housemate, telling him 'I've just been raped'. The woman also said she told Hepburn: "You sick bastard, you have taken advantage of me."

The complainant said she discovered Mr Clarke asleep in another bathroom where he had gone to be sick. The door was locked from the inside but she managed to open it using her fingernails. She described how she began to shake Mr Clarke, telling him: "Joe, I need you. I have just woken up to your friend having sex with me."

But she said Mr Clarke was 'disorientated' and said 'what? What?'

She left the flat and met a 'lovely woman' and a 999 call was made on her behalf.

"I was screaming, almost being sick. I felt so sick" she told the officer.

She told the officer how both Hepburn and Mr Clarke were of similar build, both quite muscular and that the room where she had sex with both men was 'pitch black'.

When Hepburn was having sex with her she told the officer she thought it was Joe Clarke 'being cheeky', only realising it was not Mr Clarke when she saw Hepburn's hair and he spoke with an Australian accent.

She said: "I pushed him, shoved him off me. I remember lying on the bed in a foetal position, processing what had gone on."

The complainant referred to blood on the bed which had come from a cut on Hepburn's knee which left stains like 'lipstick marks' on the sheets.

The WhatsApp messages between Hepburn and friends, including Mr Clarke, began on March 27, 2017. They referred to 'stat chats' and the men discussed their odds of winning the sexual conquest game and also set out the rules of the game.

They had to make a note of the name and age of the woman, whether she was black or white, to rate her out of 10 and rate their own performance out of 10.

They referred to women they had not had sex with before as 'freshies' and women they had previously sexual encounters with as 'reheats' who did not count towards the tally.

The winner would be able to gloat and enjoy a free night out paid for by other members.

Hepburn wrote a message to Clarke saying 'always me dragging birds back and you raping them' which the prosecution argue is evidence of his attitude towards women.

Hepburn submitted a prepared statement to police, claiming it had been agreed that he would share Mr Clarke's bed if his own bed was occupied.

But Miss Moore said: "In fact no-one was in Alex Hepburn's bed. He could not have checked. If he did he would have known it was empty."

The trial continues.