Man arrested after burglary at home of England cricket captain Ben Stokes

A man has been arrested following a burglary at England Test captain Ben Stokes’s home while he was competing in Pakistan earlier this month.

Stokes said in a post online that jewellery, valuables and a “good deal of personal items” were taken on 17 October when his wife and two young children were at their home in County Durham.

A 32-year-old man from North Yorkshire was arrested on suspicion of burglary overnight, Durham police said.

He has since been bailed while inquiries continue.

Stokes said in an appeal for the stolen items on social media that “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,” he added. “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.”

One item taken was a gold necklace with a lion pendant with the words ‘some may be better, but none will be braver’ engraved on the back.

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Another was a gold ring custom-made by fine jewellery designer MJ Jones. The ring features the England cricket logo with diamonds surrounding it.

The possessions also included a Christian Dior handbag monogrammed with his wife Clare’s initials, and two more necklaces.

One of those features a dark gemstone and another with a diamond-encrusted ‘4C’ design, in a nod to the 4CAST entrepreneurial collective he founded with fellow players Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad.

Having been forced to miss the first of England’s three Test matches in Pakistan due to injury, Stokes had made a return and was captaining the side in Multan when the robbery took place.

The match, won by Pakistan, finished the day after the raid.