Richard Pyrah returns to Yorkshire as women’s head coach after racism scandal

Pyrah was handed a two-week coaching ban and a £2,500 fine by the Cricket Discipline Commission in May last year.

Jamie Gardner
Friday 16 August 2024 12:56 EDT
Richard Pyrah has been appointed the head coach of Yorkshire’s women’s team (Mike Egerton/PA)
Richard Pyrah has been appointed the head coach of Yorkshire’s women’s team (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Archive)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Richard Pyrah, who was found guilty of making racist comments about an Asian woman, has returned to Yorkshire as the head coach of the county’s senior women’s team.

Pyrah was handed a two-week coaching ban and a £2,500 fine by the Cricket Discipline Commission in May last year after it was found he had breached ECB directive 3.3, which governs acts or omissions which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or bring the game into disrepute.

The CDC found it proven that Pyrah had used racist and discriminatory language about Asian women, namely that he had referred to Azeem Rafiq’s sister Amna as a “fit P***” or an “FP” at a Yorkshire media day in 2014 in Rafiq’s presence, and on other occasions in 2014 and/or 2018.

The PA news agency understands Pyrah’s suspension has not yet been served. The Cricket Regulator is understood to be in touch with Yorkshire about the timing around Pyrah serving the ban in his new role.

Yorkshire agreed a settlement with Pyrah in September 2022 after they accepted his sacking in December 2021 had been “procedurally unfair”, but he now returns to the club where he featured as an all-rounder for over a decade.

Pyrah will officially start the role next month, Yorkshire said.

“It’s an incredible honour for me to be given the opportunity to lead Yorkshire’s women side and it’s the proudest moment of my career,” Pyrah said.

“This is an exciting time to be involved in women’s cricket, following ECB’s restructure of the women’s professional game.”

Yorkshire Women will join Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Middlesex, Sussex and Worcestershire in Tier 2 in the 2025 season, with the 10 counties playing 50-over and 20-over cricket.

It’s an incredible honour for me to be given the opportunity to lead Yorkshire’s Women side and it’s the proudest moment of my career.

Richard Pyrah

Yorkshire will then become a Tier 1 club for the 2026 season.

Yorkshire chair Colin Graves said: “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.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in