England cricket team captain's house burgled by masked robbers while family inside

England Test cricket captain Ben Stokes said a masked gang had burgled his home when his family were inside while he was away in Pakistan for the recent tour.

The 33-year-old said his family did not come to "any physical harm" but a number of "sentimental" items were taken.

Stokes's wife Claire and children Layton and Libby were in the house when the robbery took place during the second Test, with the all-rounder leading England in a match they eventually lost by 152 runs en route to a 2-1 series loss.

"On the evening of Thursday 17th October a number of masked people burgled my home in the Castle Eden area in the North East," said Stokes in a social media post.

"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."

He added: "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 asked his followers to contact the police if they could help, before saying: "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."

Agence France-Presse