LONDON. — England cricket chiefs on Tuesday rallied round star all-rounder Ben Stokes after he criticised a British newspaper report about a family tragedy more than 30 years ago.

The Sun reported that Stokes has been living with a secret family tragedy — his half-brother and sister were shot dead.

His mum Deb’s two children Tracey, eight, and Andrew, four, were killed by her ex Richard Dunn in 1988 before Ben’s birth.

Cricket ace Ben’s birth gave his grief-stricken mum Deb “something to live for” after her jealous ex killed their two children, a family source revealed.

The England star has never spoken publicly about the murder of Tracey and Andrew by their dad Richard Dunn.

He and Deb had furious rows after they split and he discovered she had taken up with rugby coach Gerard Stokes.

Dunn had weekend custody of the children and shot them both dead before turning the gun on himself in April 1988.

And Tom Harrison, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said he was “disgusted and appalled” by the front-page story in The Sun tabloid on Tuesday.

Stokes, who helped England win the World Cup this year and played a starring role in the just-completed drawn Ashes series against Australia, has called the report “utterly disgusting” and said it touched on “deeply personal and traumatic events” involving the deaths of members of his New Zealand-based family more than 30 years ago.

Stokes (28) was born in New Zealand but moved to England as a boy.

In an ECB statement, Harrison said: “We, like the wider sporting world, are disgusted and appalled at the actions taken in revealing the tragic events from Ben’s past. — AFP.

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