If you ever wanted to know the value of Durham to English cricket, you just needed to watch the greatest World Cup final ever.

England's dramatic 'super over' success over New Zealand back in July was the stuff dreams are made of.

Of the 11 men who made themselves immortal at the home of cricket this summer, three came through the Chester-le-Street academy.

Ashington’s Mark Wood took his 18th wicket of the tournament.

Middlesbrough’s Liam Plunkett claimed three crucial scalps.

And man-of-the-match Ben Stokes, born in New Zealand, raised in Cockermouth? Wow, just wow.

Paul Collingwood will be so pleased he is no longer the only captain to have won a global tournament for England. As assistant coach the Durham legend had a small hand in this one too.

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Those who deserve most credit for the trio’s World Cup-winning performances are the men themselves.

Stokes has matured beyond measure since the madness of Bristol, as a batsman and as a person.

Torn apart when he bowled the final over of the 2016 World Twenty20 Championships, he held his nerve brilliantly to score the 84 not out which took this 50-over final to its first super-over, then eight not out in that.

Later in the summer he would go on to produce an innings of staggering skill, strength - both physically and mentally - and desire as England somehow won the third Test against Australia at Headingley.

Stokes' unbeaten 135 alongside No 11 Jack Leach will live long in the memory of everyone who watched or listened to a quite remarkable afternoon unfold.

(Image: PA)

Plunkett recognised he had to leave Durham to turn his life and his cricket around after well-meaning international coaches tried to tinker with his technique, and has done so magnificently.

Wood finally recognised the need to lengthen an explosive run-up which was damaging his own body as well as opposition batsmen.

But in moments of pressure, you rely on the fundamentals you learnt at the start, and there has surely never been a more high pressure game than playing for a country that had never won the 50-over World Cup at their iconic Lord’s home in a game which did not go down to the final ball, but beyond it.

(Image: Getty Images)

(Image: Getty Images)

Those fundamentals were drummed in by coaches like Alan Walker, Geoff Cook and John Windows on cold nights and hot afternoons at Chester-le-Street.

Yorkshire’s academy provided three England players too, but no other production line served up more than one.

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The England and Wales Cricket Board might have been savage in their punishment when the Riversiders faced financial meltdown in 2016, but at least they recognised the need to keep them alive.

At a time when county cricket is threatening to contract, that determination to keep Durham on the map must remain.