Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Yorkshire’s players and coaches and backroom staff celebrate today’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup trophy win at Visit Worcestershire New Road today.
Rich Pyrah spoke of his pride after seeing his Yorkshire side win the Tier 2 Metro Bank One-Day Cup today.
Yorkshire ended the season with a trophy after a nine-wicket triumph over Glamorgan, which saw them comfortably chase a 128-target thanks to a pair of 62s from openers Lauren Winfield-Hill and unbeaten Erin Thomas. The latter’s was a career best.
Winfield-Hill and Thomas shared a blistering 127 inside 12 overs for the first wicket.
Earlier, Glamorgan were limited to 127-5 as Olivia Thomas’s leg-spin accounted for a brilliant 3-14 from four overs. She was honoured with the player-of-the-match award.
Yorkshire’s players and backroom staff, not least head coach Pyrah himself, have done the county proud this year having won a trophy and reached the Vitality Blast final as well. They have all been wonderful ambassadors on and off the field.
“I feel like a proud dad to these girls,” smiled Pyrah.
“From where we started in November, the team was pretty much thrown together. So to win a major trophy is really pleasing.
“To do it for Yorkshire is a massive thing, and it’s a proud moment.
“We’ve played some good cricket all year, so it’s nice to finish with a deserved trophy.
“It just sets us up for next year to go up to Tier 1, and the girls are ready for the next challenge now.”
Pyrah was also honest in his view that August would be a really challenging month for his team given their lack of availability. And, while they hit some speed bumps along the way, they came out the other side to triumph.
“That’s why it’s been really pleasing,” he said. “Through the 50-over block, we lost five players from the T20 team into The Hundred. There were a couple of little niggles as well.
“We purposely didn’t go out and sign loan players. We’ve backed our own and played some young Academy players, giving them opportunities.
“The pleasing thing, from us as staff, is that we’ve learnt from Finals Day. It felt completely different today. The girls went through that experience a couple of months ago, losing a final, and they were very determined not to let that happen again.
“Glamorgan got off to a decent start (with the bat) today.
“It was a good pitch, it came on nicely. We thought it was going to do a little bit more than it did having been under cover for four or five days. But we were outstanding, and they never really got away from us.
“We got scored off pretty straight. It wasn’t width.
“We dropped a few catches at the end, so it wasn’t perfect. But it was an outstanding first half. It set us up. And that second half was special, wasn’t it!
“You sometimes expect Lauren to play like that. But to do it in the final is really pleasing.
“For Erin, she’s a young batter who has done ok this year. Then, this back end, she’s got a couple of scores and has really started to flourish. We can see when she bats like that, she’s so destructive. I couldn’t ask for any more in a final.”
Pyrah was also full of praise for Glamorgan and the ECB for agreeing to reduce the game to a T20 final because of the inclement weather forecast later in the day, which proved correct.
Just as Yorkshire lifted the trophy, the rain started to fall. By the time the music was blurring in a high-spirited dressing room, the heavens had opened and it was torrential. There was no way this game would have finished had it been a normal, 50-over final.
“Fair play to Glamorgan, and the ECB, for allowing us to get something in,” he said. “It’s been a long season, and both teams deserved the opportunity to get a result today.”
And looking ahead to next season in Tier 1, Pyrah added: “It’ll be interesting to see how we go. I think it’s going to be tough.We’ve got a small squad, and there’s a lot of cricket next year.
“The girls are ready for that opportunity to play against better players week in, week out.
“It’s going to be a challenge. We know that.
“It’s a long-term project to get to where we want to be, but I’d secretly want us to compete (immediately).
“But that’s a long way off yet. We’ve got a full winter. If we could bring one or two more in, that would be nice. I’m just really looking forward to it.”
