England Cricket Captain Ben Stokes’ Residence Burgled by Masked Group

Ben Stokes, who has served as England’s Test captain since 2022, reported that his residence was burgled by a masked group while his wife and two children were inside. The incident occurred while Stokes was in Pakistan for the recent Test series. The 33-year-old stated that his family sustained no “physical harm,” though several “sentimental” possessions were stolen. Durham police verified to BBC Sport that an inquiry into the matter is currently underway. Stokes shared images of the stolen articles, among them the medal for the OBE he was awarded in 2020. He stated, “By far the worst thing about this crime is that it was carried out while my wife and two young children were in the house.” He continued, “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, a resident of Castle Eden in County Durham, reported that the event took place on the evening of 17 October. The subsequent day, England suffered a defeat by Pakistan in the second Test, during which Stokes was dismissed after scoring 37 runs. He came back to the UK following the completion of the third Test last week, a match England lost by nine wickets, resulting in Pakistan winning the series 2-1. Stokes further stated, “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.” Stokes received an OBE following England’s victory in the 2019 World Cup and his match-winning performance at Headingley against Australia in the Ashes later the same year. He elaborated, “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. 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.” In addition to the medal, Stokes also shared images depicting three necklaces, a ring, and a designer bag. He urged individuals possessing information to contact Durham Constabulary at 101, referencing crime number CRI00575927. Several professional footballers have experienced home burglaries while absent for matches in recent years, notably Raheem Sterling during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.