- Stokes said his parental home was broken into while on tour in Pakistan
- The England captain is said to have been informed ahead of the deciding Test
- Visitors left Pakistan after taking a 1–0 lead, ending the series with a defeat
No wonder Ben Stokes cut such a distracted figure in last week’s third Test in Pakistan.
After the England captain broke the shocking news on Instagram on Wednesday that his home had been broken into by masked intruders while his wife Clare and children Layton and Libby were in the house and he was away to play cricket, events in Rawalpindi took a very different picture. perspective.
It still seems likely that part of his state of mind that week was due to the fact that he had not yet regained full confidence in his body after returning from a serious hamstring injury. Otherwise, he would surely have brought himself to bowl when England were running out of wicket-taking options on the second afternoon.
But could that have fully explained his attitude before, during and after a match that started just seven days after the burglary at his home in Castle Eden near Hartlepool?
Stokes was generally razor sharp in the field and chased the Test as Salman Agha and the Pakistan lower order turned a losing position into a series win in the space of 24 hours. Normally he was on the ball and to the point in his media interactions, instead curt and unreflective.
Ben Stokes revealed on Wednesday that his family home was burgled during his time in Pakistan with England
The captain shared details of the stolen valuables in an attempt to catch the burglars on social media
And when England collapsed on the third and final morning, suffering only a second-of-nine defeat under the leadership of Stokes and Brendon McCullum, he threw his arms over Pakistan spinner Nauman Ali – as uncharacteristic a shot as they come. to suggest.
If his thoughts weren’t entirely on the cricket, who can blame him? It’s one thing to lose personal items with sentimental value, which Stokes describes as “irreplaceable.” It’s another thing entirely when the theft happens while your young family is at home – and you’re nearly 4,000 miles away, powerless to help.
“Fortunately, no one in my family was physically harmed,” he wrote. ‘However, it is understandable that 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.”
Although Stokes would not have known it on the third day of the second Test due to the time difference, it will have been on his mind before the decider
The robbery took place on the evening of October 17, the third day of the second Test in Multan. Because Pakistan had a four-hour lead over Great Britain before the clocks turned back this weekend, Stokes would not have heard the news during playing hours.
But he had plenty of time to reflect on the horrific nature of the incident before the deciding Test started the following week. It is clear that at no point did he address the entire team about the events at home.
After England lost the series on October 26, McCullum said how disappointed Stokes was. He added: “Our job is to make sure we put our arms around him and help him along the way.”
With England flying to New Zealand in three weeks’ time for another tour, these sentiments may be more relevant than ever.