Rich Pyrah has praised the work put in by Yorkshire’s entire coaching staff following the encouraging signs shown by the county’s youngsters during the recent Royal London Cup campaign.
With Andrew Gale away at the Hundred, Pyrah led the Vikings during the One-Day Cup, fielding six List A debutants en-route to to the knockout stages.
They were beaten by Essex in Saturday’s Eliminator clash at Chelmsford, with the Eagles advancing to the semi-finals.
Harry Duke, George Hill, Will Luxton, Matthew Revis, Jack Shutt and Josh Sullivan have all played their first career one-day games over the last month, while batsman and Academy captain Luxton and leg-spinner Sullivan both made their first first-team appearances.
That, believes regular assistant and bowling coach Pyrah, is the fruits of the labour of Gale, himself, Richard Damms, Ian Dews, Paul Grayson and Martyn Moxon amongst others.
“As a club, we’ve been building to this for a while,” said Pyrah. “We’ve worked hard to get the young lads up to speed.
“Galey’s done a great job, and this has just been an extension of what he’s been doing.
“These young lads are making the senior players look over their shoulder now. That’s what makes a good club successful, when they are being put under pressure to perform.
“Galey has got options going forward for Championship and T20.
“These lads can play, and they can play under pressure.
“They are performing now, but the hard work has been done behind the scenes for a number of years now.
“The full coaching staff have been a part of it and should be proud watching these young lads play like this.”
Pyrah has loved his time in charge, with Gale resuming his responsibilities ahead of next Tuesday’s Vitality Blast quarter-final against Sussex at Emirates Riverside in Durham.
“The club have left me to it,” he said. “There’s been no direction of where to go with it. They’ve seen it as experience for me, and it’s been my baby if you will.
“It’s been a different challenge, and I’ve enjoyed it.
“I’ve perhaps learnt more about the man management around it.
“I’ve been a skills coach and an assistant coach for a number of years now, and you’re kind of the good guy all the time when you’re in that position.
“But having to leave players out, to tell Maty Pillans he wasn’t playing at Glamorgan in a big game, is tough.
“It’s just been about learning how to manage different people and sticking to what I do well.
“I’m pretty calm and consistent, and it’s been about making sure I continue to do that. Even in pressurised situations, it’s about not getting too up and too down.”
So does the former all-rounder believe this role has made him a better coach?
“I think it will do eventually, yes,” he added.
“I feel as though I’m growing as coach, and I’m still a young one.
“I ran the Yorkshire Diamonds team in my first year as a coach in 2016. That was just six games.
“I was very young and inexperienced then, and this is the first opportunity I’ve had since then to lead a team. It’s been brilliant for me.”
