AN Australian cricketer pleaded guilty to a motoring offence when he appeared before magistrates yesterday.

Liam Newman, a batsman with Studley Royal cricket team, was stopped by police as he drove into Ripon from Harrogate, North Yorkshire in the early hours of July 9.

It was found he was not insured to drive the car he had borrowed from a fellow Australian cricketer, who is playing in the Huddersfield area.

Newman, 27, who gave his address as Ripon City Club, Water Skellgate, Ripon, pleaded guilty to driving without insurance. He was fined £100 with £45 costs and was banned from driving for a month by Harrogate magistrates.

He told presiding magistrate David Gravells that he had believed he was covered for third party insurance.