England cricket captain Ben Stokes is one of the nation’s best-ever sportsmen, having lifted two World Cups and enjoyed stellar success with both bat and ball.

Defined by his bullish playing style and a never-give-up mentality, Stokes is often in the spotlight for his actions on the pitch, not his life off it.

But the cricket star recently revealed his family home in the North East of England was burgled by masked robbers, who stole ‘irreplaceable items’ and left an ‘emotional and mental’ scar.

The New Zealand-born ace claimed via an emotional social media statement that the incident took place while his wife and two children were present in the home.

He said: “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.”

Stokes is married to wife Clare, 34, with the pair having first met in 2010 before tying the knot in 2017, four years after announcing their engagement.

They got married at St Mary the Virgin church in East Brent, with a full complement of Stokes’ team-mates, including Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, and Alastair Cook, present at the ceremony.

It’s reported by The Sun that Clare was studying for her PGCE in teacher training when Stokes was coming through the ranks as a Durham cricketer.

The couple are said to have originally met at a Lancashire vs Durham cricket match, with Clare making the first move by sending Ben a Facebook friend request – the social media site they’d use to announce their relationship just months later.

However, in the early days of their partnership things were kept to a distance, as Clare lived in Somerset and Ben was training and playing in Durham – where the family live now.

Clare regularly shares snaps of her husband on social media, with the duo having been pictured at luxurious spots like Wimbledon Centre Court, Disney World Florida and Buckingham Palace.

They have had two children together, Layton and Libby, and according to the couple’s social media accounts, also have two dogs, Shelby and Sampson.

Stokes has been the victim of a robbery before, revealing on social media in 2023 that his bag had been stolen outside of Kings Cross train station in London.

Stokes was arrested in 2017 after getting involved in a fight outside Mbargo nightclub in Bristol.

He revealed to police at the time he’d stepped in to defend two gay men who were being verbally abused and subsequently had to defend himself from two men who were threatening violence.

Stokes was charged with affray but was later acquitted after standing trial at Bristol Crown Court.

Wife Clare supported her sportsman husband throughout this time and was pictured alongside him during the trial.