England Captain Ben Stokes' home invaded by masked burglars with family inside

By Will Macpherson of Daily Telegraph UK

England test captain Ben Stokes has revealed that he has lost a number of “irreplaceable items” after his house was broken into by masked burglars while his family were inside.

Stokes’ wife Claire and children Layton and Libby were in the house when the robbery took place, with the cricketer away in Pakistan on England’s recent tour.

The attack took place on October 17, the third day of the second test against Pakistan, Stokes’ first match back after two months out with a hamstring injury suffered playing in the Hundred.

Stokes released photos of some of the stolen items, which include his OBE medal, an England cricket ring and a necklace with a lion including the words “some may be better but none will be braver” (a line Jack Leach said to Stokes’ England side in 2022 that has become something of a team mantra).

Stokes wrote on social media: “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 2 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.

“I am releasing photographs of some of the stolen items – which I hope may be easily identified – in the hope that we can find the people who are responsible for this.

“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 his followers to contact the Durham Constabulary if they could help, before adding: “Finally, I want to say thank you to the police service. Both now and whilst I was away in Pakistan, their support for my family has been outstanding. They continue to work incredibly hard in trying to find these people.”

Stokes endured a difficult tour after coming back from injury, making just 53 runs in five innings and bowling only 10 wicketless overs. Coach Brendon McCullum admitted that his captain was not at his best as a leader, saying: “He’s disappointed but he’s our skipper and we know he’s a tough bugger. He’ll make sure he’ll come back and it’s our job to make sure we wrap our arms around him and help him along the way.”

Stokes is at home for the next couple of weeks, with the test team’s next assignment in New Zealand, where he was born and his mother Deb still lives, next month.

Stokes bought his house in Castle Eden in 2017. It was previously owned by the disgraced former Sunderland footballer Adam Johnson, who was jailed for grooming and engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old fan.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission