YORKSHIRE chief executive Mark Arthur says England’s breathtaking World Cup final victory over New Zealand ranks as the best sporting moment he has witnessed live.

Arthur, also an MCC member, was present at Lord’s to see Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid and Joe Root, pictured, triumph over Kane Williamson on most boundaries scored after a tied game and then a tied Super Over.

He spoke of the club’s pride in Bairstow, Rashid, Root, Liam Plunkett and David Willey, as well as Kiwi captain Williamson, a regular overseas player at Emerald Headingley.

Arthur has also revealed how he, alongside singalong chairman Robin Smith, were swept up in the emotion.

“I’ve been involved in sport at a professional level for 30 years, and that was special, really special,” he reflected.

“The game was intriguing, but you won’t ever see anything like that finish again in your lives.

“I remember where I was in 1966, I remember where I was in 2003 for the rugby World Cup win - watching my lad play Saturday morning football.

“I’ll certainly remember where I was for this one. It was the greatest sporting moment I’ve witnessed live.

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“If a fiction writer had written that script, the twists and turns in the last half an hour, you’d know it was fiction. In fact, you couldn’t write that.

“Everybody was caught up in the emotion. It was incredible.

“Seeing my own chairman singing Sweet Caroline is a moment I will take to my grave.

“So much of the sport we see can be a blur, but there are some very special occasions that stand out.

“Another one for me was the 1992 Test between England and Pakistan at Lord’s when 19 wickets fell on the fourth. It was brilliant. I remember it so distinctly.

“We’re very proud of Joe, Jonny and Adil and also of Liam Plunkett and David Willey.

“David was on that journey for a very long time. It was only through the emergence of Jofra Archer that David lost his place in the squad. But he was a significant part of getting the squad to where it was as world number one.

“Those five guys have done extraordinarily well for their country.

“The four who picked up a winner's medal will be deservedly lauded for the rest of their lives.

“We know Kane very well here.

“He’s a very humble and modest man, a phenomenal talent who’s prepared to help other people.

“To conduct himself with such modesty and humility and masses of generosity towards the England team when he must have felt absolutely terrible, it’s testament to the strength of character of the man.

“You have to respect his parents for the way they brought him up.

“He is everything that Yorkshire Cricket embodies.

“If you’d told me that he’s a Yorkshireman rather than an adopted one, I’d say, ‘Yes of course he is. He’s a fantastic cricketer and human being’.”

Arthur describes the outcome of the final as “perfect scenario” when talking about cricket’s future in this country.

He said: “For me knowing what’s planned in the future for the game, with Sky generously allowing the nation to watch it on free to air Channel Four, it was the coming together of the perfect scenario.

“We started out this process of inspiring future generations with the All Stars programme, which has been very successful in Yorkshire. But you know yourself growing up, you need something to inspire you.

“For me, in another sport, it was the 1966 football World Cup.

“That was the first time I had seen a football match on TV at the age of eight.

“It doesn’t just have a feel good factor for the sport, it’s the whole country, and other sports can feed off that.

“Where I was sat in the Mound Stand, we were surrounded by a lot of senior members of parliament, and you could tell they were caught up in the emotion.

“They will understand what further support from the government and Sport England can do.

“This will be the catalyst for us to create something very special for the next 20 to 30 years.

“The rest of the summer, including the Ashes, is just going to be so exciting.”

On the end of the game, Arthur said: “The tie didn’t come into my mind until very late, probably the last couple of overs. Even then, it was only the back end of the last over that I seriously considered it.

“I was definitely sitting there as a fan and not an administrator.

“As Boult ran in to bowl in that last over, we were praying to whoever we believed in.

“We went from the absolute depths of despair to ecstasy.

“I was sat next to Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket who I know very well, and we thought 15 was a pretty good score. We had agreed that 12 was a par score.”

Emerald Headingley hosted four World Cup matches, all of which Arthur views as success stories.

“I thought the atmosphere in the ground here at Emerald Headingley was something we haven’t experienced before because it was a different type of atmosphere to Yorkshire v Lancashire in a T20,” he added.

“Bar a small incident outside the ground in the Pakistan v Afghanistan game, the integration of the participating countries was superb.

“For me, probably the best atmosphere was the India v Sri Lanka game, our last one.

“It was wonderful to see all the Indian supporters in their blue shirts. Their enthusiasm for the game becomes infectious.

“Some of the things the ICC have brought to our ground, we’ll try and take one or two elements of that and adopt that.

“That we have this fantastic foundation of having won the World Cup, we can go from strength to strength as a sport.

“I can’t wait for the Ashes now. It will be different, but people will still be on the edge of their seats.”