Ben Stokes' North-east home burgled by masked gang while wife ...

England cricket captain Ben Stokes has spoken out after his County Durham home was targeted by burglars while his family was inside. Stokes, who was away on tour with the England team in Pakistan at the time, said his wife and two children were left shaken but unharmed.

However, the thieves made off with several valuable and sentimental items, including Stokes' OBE and a custom-made ring featuring the England cricket logo. In a heartfelt appeal on social media, Stokes wrote: "On the evening of Thursday 17th 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."

He added: "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.", reports Chronicle Live.

"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."