FORMER England cricket captain David Gower has admitted losing £10,300 in an Australian green energy project.

Gower, 61, said he invested the money in Lotus Co-Op in 2018 but has seen no return on his investment.

He told Australian TV yesterday: “It’s become a complete schemozzle.

“Face to face it looked as if things were going in the right direction.”

Lotus raised £3million to install “community-owned clean energy generator storage networks” and claimed it had signed a £27billion renewable energy contract in Ethiopia.

Another England cricketer, Adam Hollioake, also invested, as did Aussie stars Brad Hodge and Greg Matthews.

Hollioake, 51, is leading a campaign to get investors’ money back.

He said: “I personally haven’t asked for my own money back more than two or three times.

“I’ve asked for everyone else’s money to be returned. It must have been a hundred times.”

Co-founder Ian McBain denied lying to investors. He said: “It’s not something I do.

o-founder Ian McBain denied lying to investors, adding: “No, it’s not something I do.”

Asked where the money had gone, he blamed Vippond and said: “It’s all been expended”.

Gower played 117 tests between 1978 and 1992, scoring 8231 runs – the fifth most by an English player.