Ben Stokes reveals home burgled by masked gang while on Pakistan tour

Ben Stokes, the England Test captain, 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. While his family did not suffer any physical harm, Stokes said the “experience has had an impact on their emotional and mental state”.

In a post on social media, Stokes said: “On the evening of Thursday 17 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 achieve World Cup glory the previous year. Other items pictured include a handbag, a ring and necklaces.

Stokes said: “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.”

He encouraged anyone with relevant information to contact the Durham constabulary, and thanked the police for their “outstanding” support. “They continue to work incredibly hard in trying to find these people.”

The 33-year-old captain returned from a hamstring injury in Multan, having missed England’s previous four Tests, including their record‑breaking victory at the same venue in the first Test. He batted the day after the burglary, hitting 37 off 36 balls as England slid to a 152-run defeat.

Stokes struggled for runs in the final Test and did not bowl at Rawalpindi as his side succumbed to a series defeat, their second since Stokes was appointed captain in 2022.

Brendon McCullum, the England head coach, said in the aftermath of the series defeat that Stokes was “hurting” following a difficult tour, adding that the all-rounder’s work to get fit for the series may have affected his captaincy.

“That injury was quite a significant injury,” McCullum said. “He had to work incredibly hard to get back. As the driven athlete he is, he’s all in when he does something. He had to put in a lot of graft and subconsciously it can … not cloud things, but maybe you’re not quite as screwed down as you can be in terms of decision-making. He’s disappointed but he’s our skipper and we know he’s a tough bugger.”

Stokes is part of England’s 16-man squad named on Tuesday for the three-Test tour of New Zealand, which begins at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on 28 November.