Rich Pyrah back in cricket as first member of the sacked 16 returns to Yorkshire CCC
RICH PYRAH, one of those who lost his job at the height of the Yorkshire racism crisis, is returning to the club after a near three-year absence.
Pyrah has been appointed head coach of the Yorkshire women’s team and will begin work next month.
The former Yorkshire all-rounder and coach, 41, was one of the 16 people sacked by Lord Kamlesh Patel, a previous chair, in December 2021 after allegations made by Azeem Rafiq.
Specifically, Pyrah was among 14 signatories to a staff grievance letter to the old board that claimed Rafiq was on “a one man mission to bring down the club”.
All of the signatories - including Kunwar Bansil, the British Asian former lead physiotherapist - were summarily sacked without investigation in a move praised by Julian Knight MP, the former chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee.
The club was subsequently forced to admit that the dismissals were “procedurally unfair” and forced to pay thousands in financial settlements to Pyrah and others.
After leaving cricket, Pyrah - who played for the club for 11 years and was bowling coach at the time of his dismissal - feared that his coaching career was over.
He took up work in the construction industry and was further hit in March last year when he was among several former players found to have brought the game into disrepute by the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) over allegations of historic racism.
Pyrah, as with all of the accused apart from Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, refused to engage in the process as he did not believe it fair or transparent.
One allegation against him was upheld, another was not, and he was handed a £2,500 fine and told to take an educational course.
It is understood that both of those matters have been dealt with to the satisfaction of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which had no objection to him returning to Yorkshire.
Pyrah will take charge of the newly created Tier 2 women’s team for 2025, with Yorkshire to join Tier 1 the following year.
“It’s an incredible honour for me to be given the opportunity to lead Yorkshire’s women's side and it’s the proudest moment of my career,” said Pyrah.
“This is an exciting time to be involved in women's cricket, following ECB’s restructure of the women’s professional game.
“To join Yorkshire, one of the biggest cricket clubs in the world, is a dream for any coach; it is why I am so excited by this opportunity.
“I will give my full commitment to this team, I look forward to working with a very talented group of players and staff, and I aim to develop a team that continues the club’s tradition of success and makes our supporters proud.”
Colin Graves, the Yorkshire chair, commented: “We’re delighted Richard has agreed to become the head coach of our women’s team and we are very pleased to welcome him back to Yorkshire.
“After a thorough and robust process, Richard stood out amongst an incredible shortlist of candidates.
“Through the whole process it was clear Richard is the right person to lead Yorkshire into the club’s new chapter and take our women’s professional team to the highest level.
“Richard is a proven developer, has an excellent reputation, and a winning mentality as a player and as a coach.
“We believe that Richard will be the perfect fit for the next stage of our new and exciting journey.”