England’s Test captain Ben Stokes has said his house was burgled this month, while his wife and two children were present and he was away on the tour of Pakistan.
Stokes was playing in the second Test at Multan when the burglary took place. In a post on social media, Stokes said: “On the evening of Thursday 17th October a number of masked people burgled my home in the Castle Eden area in the north east. They escaped with jewellery, other valuables and a good deal of personal items. Many of those items have real sentimental value for me and my family. They are irreplaceable.
“This is an appeal for any help in finding these people who carried out this act. By far the worst thing about this crime is that it was carried out whilst my wife and two young children were in the house. Thankfully, none of my family came to any physical harm. Understandably, however, the experience has had an impact on their emotional and mental state. All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been.”
Stokes has posted pictures of items that have been stolen, including the OBE medal he received in 2020 after helping England to World Cup glory the previous year. Other items included a handbag, a ring and necklaces.
In his statement, Stokes added: “Although we have lost cherished possessions, to be clear, my sole motivation in sharing these photographs is not the recovery of material items. It is to catch the people who did this.”
Stokes encouraged anyone with relevant information to get in touch with the Durham constabulary before thanking the police for their “outstanding” support. “They continue to work incredibly hard in trying to find these people,” he added.
