Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWPix.com. Rich Pyrah spoke after Yorkshire’s defeat to Northamptonshire at Wantage Road today.
Rich Pyrah says Yorkshire were a long way short of their best in defeat to Northamptonshire Steelbacks in today’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup clash at Wantage Road.
The White Rose coach watched his side suffer a six-wicket defeat, with the hosts chasing 260.
The Steelbacks qualified for the semi-finals as a result of their seventh win in eight games, but they made Yorkshire wait on their own last-four fate.
The race for fourth spot in the table, which Yorkshire currently hold, will go down to Saturday’s final round of matches. Pyrah and co travel to face Kent at Canterbury, while Worcestershire and Gloucestershire are both on their tails.
Yorkshire are unsure of Olivia Thomas’s fitness for that game after the all-rounder suffered a foot injury whilst batting, but club captain Lauren Winfield-Hill will return from leading the Oval Invincibles in the Hundred.
The availability of Sterre Kalis and Rachel Slater is to be decided.
“We were pretty poor today in all disciplines,” said Pyrah. “It was a good pitch and a fast outfield, and 60-4 on a pitch like that you’re always fighting against it.
“It takes you back to (Blast) Finals Day a little bit, really (Middlesex on this ground last month when Yorkshire made only 101-9 in a 10-wicket defeat).
“I thought we battled back really well in the middle, and that partnership at the end gave us a sniff between Claudie and Woolly. But I always thought we were light on runs.
“Once you get somebody in, it’s so difficult to defend.
“It’s probably the worst we’ve bowled all year, that. We’ve been so disciplined with the ball, but we bowled with too much width. You can’t do that on a pitch like this.
“Liv coming off injured, we had to change keepers to get an extra bowler in. It just compounded from there.”
Yorkshire used three wicketkeepers in their defence, firstly captain Maddie Ward, who then decided to bowl when Thomas went off injured having only bowled five overs.
EPP youngster Olivia Breese came on as substitute and took the gloves before opening batter Amelia Oliver then took over.
Pyrah explained: “We had Liv Breese with us on the bench. She’s come for a bit of experience, and she’s a young EPP keeper. We asked the umpires if we could change keeper, and they said, ‘Yes’.
“But then Maddie came on to bowl, and they (Northamptonshire) weren’t too happy about it. So we had to change keeper again to Olly, who was in the original eleven. They were happy with that.”
Olivia Thomas hit a determined 57 to help Yorkshire recover from 6-2 to post their 259-9, and she later took one wicket with her leg-spin.
“Liv’s done great. She plays the game hard, and she reads it really well. Once again, she got stuck in at a difficult time,” added Pyrah. “She’s a good cricketer, which she’s proven this year with runs, wickets and the way she plays the game.
“It’s a bit of a worry for her now because she’s struggling a bit with her foot.
“She fell over when she was batting, running between the wickets. She’s twisted her foot, and she can’t put any weight on it. We’ll have to see what happens.”
