Rich Pyrah

Rich Pyrah ended a 12-year career with Yorkshire when he retired at the end of the 2015 season. During that time he steadily built a reputation as a valuable squad member, rarely likely to claim the headlines, but a steady hand with bat and ball. Pyrah was held in great brespect by Yorkshire's coaching staff and he took up a full-time post on the club's coaching staff as he prepared to complete his coaching qualifications.

In first-class cricket, his top score of 134 not out came against Loughborough University in 2010, but his most memorable innings came against Lancashire at Headingley in July 2011 when he rescued Yorkshire from 45 for 8 in ntheir first innings with a brilliant 117, not quite enough to spare Yorkshire an eventual defeat. More happily, he wrote his name in Yorkshire folklore when he took the catch to win Yorkshire's first Championship in 13 years catching out James Taylor at Trent Bridge in September 2014.

Pyrah's medium pace - particularly adept in stemming a gathering run chase - and handy lower middle order batting won a Yorkshire cap in 2010 six years after his debut. That year his bowling claimed 20 wickets in the 40-over competition and an impressive 21 wickets at 19.42 in the T20 campaign as he often stifled the opposition in the middle part of an innings. He also contributed 304 first-class runs in seven matches.

In 2011, he was Yorkshire's leading T20 wicket-taker with another 21 victims, including 5 for 16 against Durham at Scarborough, which stood as the best analysis for any Yorkshire bowler in the 20-over format. He gained a reputation as a thoughtful cricketer and excellent team man and his award of a benefit in 2015, his final season, was well received.

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