ENGLAND captain Ben Stokes has revealed that his County Durham home was burgled by a masked gang while he was playing in Pakistan earlier this month.

Stokes has revealed that his wife and two children were in his home in Castle Eden when burglars broke in on October 17.

His family did not come to any physical harm, but a number of “sentimental items” were stolen and remain unaccounted for.

Stokes has posted pictures of some of the missing items to his personal social media account on X, and they include the medal for the OBE he received in 2020, a Christian Dior handbag, a gold ring with England cricket insignia and bracelets.

The Durham all-rounder said: “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.

“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 moved to the North-East when he joined Durham as a teenager and has lived in the region ever since.

This month’s burglary occurred while he was captaining the England Test team in a series in Pakistan. The following day, Stokes was dismissed for 37 as England were beaten in the second Test.

The 33-year-old has decided to make the incident public in the hope of catching those responsible.

He said: “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.

“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. 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.”