A FORMER England cricketer who lives in Notts has been cleared of assaulting a fellow guest at a charity bash to celebrate Ian Botham's knighthood.

David Smith, 53, of Kings Meadow, Rainworth, was cleared of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at a trial at Southwark Crown Court.

He had been accused of punching Stephen Best at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on May 9 last year for intervening in a row with his girlfriend.

Mr Best told jurors he was attacked when he stepped in to protect Christine Bell when Smith pushed her against a lamp-post.

He told jurors that Smith – who made his test debut as an opening batsman against the West Indies in 1986 – punched him in the face, leaving him with a broken nose and black eye.

But a jury cleared Smith, a member of the star-studded Bunbury Cricket Club.

The event, to celebrate Mr Botham's knighthood, was attended by the likes of Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and a host of cricketing heroes including David Gower and Dennis Lillee.

Smith and Christine Bell were seen "screaming and bellowing" outside the five-star venue when Best intervened, the court was told.

The two men began grappling and Mr Best fell to the ground.

Smith, who played for Surrey, Sussex, Worcester and England, told the court he had little memory of the altercation.

He said he had been dining and drinking with pals from the cricket club all night before the incident.

Former Charlton FC footballer Steven Thompson, 54, gave evidence as a character witness and said Smith was a keen fund-raiser for charity.