Joe Clarke is again being linked with a potential England call-up after a superb start to the County Championship season with Nottinghamshire in which he has already scored three hundreds.

The 27-year-old’s latest star turn came in the last round of games against Somerset at Taunton where he made an unbeaten 213.

Given Clarke also keeps wicket for Nottinghamshire, he is being touted as a possible contender for England’s Test team ahead of the first series of the summer against the West Indies in July.

England’s wicketkeeping options will again be a subject ripe for debate this summer, with Ben Foakes, who did the job in the most recent series in India, and Jonny Bairstow, who may need the gloves to remain in the team, the leading contenders.

Under normal circumstances, Clarke’s form would place him at the centre of that debate. He might also be seen as a viable contender for the No 3 position if Ollie Pope’s form doesn’t pick up.

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However, Clarke’s involvement in a misogynistic WhatsApp group seven years ago that was made public after the conviction of his former Worcestershire team-mate and friend Alex Hepburn for rape, cannot be forgotten.

If Clarke does come under serious consideration before that West Indies series, judgements will again be made on whether he is fit to represent England.

Hepburn was sentenced to five years in jail for raping a woman Clarke had gone on a date with in Worcester in April 2017. After bringing the woman home and having sex with her, Clarke went to the bathroom in his flat and passed out. Hepburn came into the bedroom, climbed into bed with Clarke’s date and raped her.

At the trial the judge said: “That night, Joe Clarke did nothing wrong – nor did she.” Clarke was never accused of any criminal offence nor convicted of one.

But his involvement in the WhatsApp group with Hepburn and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, another Worcestershire team-mate at the time, saw him fined by the England & Wales Cricket Board, banned for four games and sent on educational courses about sexual consent. Kohler-Cadmore also never accused of or convicted of any crime and received the same sanction.

The WhatsApp group, set up by Hepburn and titled “Stat chat”, was a sexual conquest “game” between the three team-mates who were competing to sleep with as many women as possible that summer. On it, the players were asked to rate women based on looks, age, ethnicity, and performance.

The judge at Hepburn’s trial said the “pathetic” WhatsApp group “demeaned women and trivialised rape”.

Clarke, speaking publicly for the only time on the subject in an interview with The Daily Telegraph in May 2022, apologised for being part of the group. He added: “It is not the attitude I have towards women now. I have done a lot of reflecting. It is a feeling of embarrassment really. Regretful for being part of it. It is embarrassment and shame that I was involved in what was a terrible thing. It was completely wrong.”

A few weeks beforehand, Rob Key, in his first media appearance as England’s director of cricket, opened the door to a Clarke call-up when saying: “I think you can’t penalise people forever in life. I think sometimes you can do your time, and you can come back.”

Clarke, who had been placed on standby for England’s Test series in the West Indies in March 2022, became the subject of frenzied debate on social media after Key’s comments. He wasn’t picked and the furore went away.

But it will resurface if he comes into contention again this summer.

In his interview with The Daily Telegraph two years ago, Clarke pointed out he was 19 at the time of the incident. It was also stated he would consult with Nottinghamshire, the club he moved to in 2019, about working with women’s charities in the city. i asked the club whether that had happened. They did not respond before publication.

If you believe in second chances, you would argue Clarke should be allowed to play for his country if his form is good enough. But it’s not as simple as that. For the ECB, the question of whether Clarke should represent England must be made within the context of their backing for women’s cricket and their aim to make the sport “a game is for everyone”.

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The decision may become easier when looking at what the woman at the centre of this case has said publicly.

A university student at the time, she has said she felt “humiliated” to be part of the sexual conquest “game” and has suffered from facial paralysis and post traumatic stress disorder since.

“I was raped, by a young sports star [Hepburn] in a world where women can be dehumanised, degraded and objectified, for the sake of a sex competition,” she told the BBC in 2019.

“I didn’t think Joe and I were anything serious but I didn’t realise I was just a pawn in a sick game. I just thought it was a sexual encounter between two equals, that he was attracted to me.

“Rating girls is vile. There’s no humanity or decency in any of it.”

Women in cricket also need to be heard when talking about this subject. In September 2022, The Cricketer spoke to several. This is what two had to say. Liz, 38, from London: “I feel ill seeing Clarke get to play any cricket.”

A 33-year-old from Cumbria who remained anonymous said: “His behaviour was appalling. The way these men talked about women was violently misogynistic. Him getting to play for England would make me sick. It would make me feel uncomfortable, sad, and ignored… it would make me feel less safe as a fan.”

It’s been seven years since Hepburn’s initial rape trial. He also lost an appeal but was released in October 2021.

Clarke is rebuilding his career and is in fine form at the moment. But the question of whether he should ever play for England goes far deeper. When asking it, maybe the voices of women should be the ones the ECB listen to most intently.