Former Kent cricketer Matt Coles denies sexual assault charge at Maidstone Crown Court

A former Kent cricketer is to go on trial after denying an accusation of sexual assault.

The 31-year-old sportsman appeared at Maidstone Crown Court to plead not guilty following the incident alleged to have happened in August last year.

The court heard the incident, at a Maidstone High Street pub, was caught on CCTV and is expected to be included as part of the prosecution case.

He was then granted bail until the next hearing in December.

Coles, of London Road, Maidstone, was an all-rounder who played for Kent, Essex and Hampshire cricket clubs.

During the 2012 season he took 59 first-class wickets, and earned a call up to the England Lions squad.

He took two wickets on his Lions' debut in May 2012 and was included on the Lions' tour of Australia a year later.

Coles was sent home early from that tour along with Ben Stokes for drinking beyond curfew hours on a number of occasions.

He made his Kent debut in 2009 returning to the county in 2015 and his final first class game came in 2019.