England captain Ben Stokes has appealed for information after revealing his house was burgled during the Test tour of Pakistan.
Stokes’s home in the village of Castle Eden in Durham was broken into on 17 October while his wife and two children were inside the property.
A number of “irreplaceable” personal items were taken, with the 33-year-old urging anyone with information to contact the the police.
“On the evening of Thursday 17th October a number of masked people burgled my home in the Castle Eden area in the North East,” Stokes said on social media. “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. Please come forward and contact Durham Constabulary on 101 quoting crime reference CRI00575927 if you think that you have any relevant information.
“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.”
England were beaten 2-1 by Pakistan in their three-Test series, with Stokes returning to the side for the second match in Multan. The third day of the encounter took place on the day of the burglary.
The all-rounder had missed the opening encounter with a hamstring issue and struggled to find top form, though head coach Brendon McCullum backed his skipper to return to full force.
“We all know how competitive and driven the skipper is, he’ll be hurting right now with how the series has unfolded,” McCullum said.
“He’s disappointed, but he’s our skipper and we know he’s a tough b****r. He’ll make sure he comes back and it’s our job to make sure we wrap our arms around him and help him along the way. It’s my job to make sure I’m there to support him.”
