England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) CEO Tom Harrison has issued a statement in support of all-rounder Ben Stokes after a British newspaper reported detailed revelations of a tragedy related to the cricketer's New Zealand-based family 30 years ago.
Harrison's word came after Stokes himself bemoaned The Sun, saying its published article deals with "deeply personal and traumatic events" before claiming the report had "serious inaccuracies which has compounded the damage caused".
Stokes termed it all "utterly disgusting" and the "lowest form of journalism" one could see.
"It is hard to find words that adequately describe such low and despicable behaviour, disguised as journalism. I cannot conceive of anything more immoral, heartless or contemptuous to the feelings and circumstances of my family," the World Cup and Ashes hero added.
"For more than three decades, my family has worked hard to deal with the private trauma inevitably associated with these events and has taken great care to keep private what were deeply personal and traumatic events."
Now, Harrison, in his statement, said: "We, like the wider sporting world, are disgusted and appalled at the actions taken in revealing the tragic events from Ben’s past."
"We are saddened that an intrusion of this magnitude was deemed necessary in order to sell newspapers or secure clicks. Ben’s exploits at Lord’s and Headingley cemented his place in cricket history this summer -- we are sure the whole sport, and the country, stands behind him in support."
The Sun, however, yet defended its approach citing the story's extensively received media coverage in New Zealand at the time.
"The Sun has the utmost sympathy for Ben Stokes and his mother but it is only right to point out the story was told with the co-operation of a family member who supplied details, provided photographs and posed for pictures," a spokeswoman for the newspaper said.
"The tragedy is also a matter of public record and was the subject of extensive front-page publicity in New Zealand at the time."
"The Sun has huge admiration for Ben Stokes and we were delighted to celebrate his sporting heroics this summer. He was contacted prior to publication and at no stage did he or his representatives ask us not to publish the story."
(Inputs from PTI)
