Picture by John Phillips/Getty Images. Yorkshire head coach Rich Pyrah will be involved with SunRisers Leeds women through the forthcoming Hundred.
Rich Pyrah believes his forthcoming spell as an assistant coach with Headingley-based SunRisers Leeds women in The Hundred will have a positive knock-on effect to the development of his Yorkshire side.
Pyrah is part of the support staff led by head coach South African Adi Birrell, the former Hampshire men’s head coach.
SunRisers open the tournament with an away day against MI London at The Kia Oval on Tuesday afternoon before returning to Headingley to face Southern Brave next Saturday morning.
Their squad includes Australians Annabel Sutherland and Phoebe Litchfield, who were both part of the Northern Superchargers team which won the same competition last summer.
Yorkshire stars Claudie Cooper, Jess Jonassen and Lauren Winfield-Hill will all play on home turf. So too would Rachel Slater and Maddie Ward but for season-ending injuries.
England all-rounder Dani Gibson was signed in March’s auction for a whopping £190,000. Pyrah was involved in the pre-auction and auction process, describing it as a “great day”.
“It was an intense day as well,” he said. “It came at you pretty fast. You certainly had to think fast.
“We’d spent about six weeks planning for everything that could happen in the auction. But you still had to react on the day. It was a great experience.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Rich Pyrah will be an assistant coach alongside head coach Adi Birrell.
“The excitement around working with the SunRisers, who have all the experience they’ve got in the IPL, and to be in meetings with them discussing auction plans, it’s been an unbelievable learning experience.”
While Pyrah has numerous coaching experiences under his belt – Yorkshire’s men’s assistant, some specialist bowling work with England Under 19s, time in the Big Bash and Australian state cricket and now as the head coach of Yorkshire’s women – he is still a relatively young coach at the age of 43.
He continued: “I’m the head coach of Yorkshire, but I’ve still got a lot of learning to do. I’ve still got a lot of developing to do.
“It’s great being involved with the SunRisers, for myself but also because I see it as bringing things back to Yorkshire and helping us go from where we are now to where we want to be in the next five years.
“To get to work with the likes of Annabel Sutherland, Phoebe Litchfield, Deepti Sharma, Kate Cross, as well as Lauren and Jess again, is really exciting. They’re amongst the best in the world.
“Adi Birrell as well. We’ve worked closely through the planning process, and what he’s done in the game will be great for my development.”
With external investment, The Hundred will look a lot different to previous years.
“There’s been a lot of change in the women’s game in recent years, and it’s all been for the good. This is just another step forwards. It’s massive for the game,” said Pyrah. “It’s moving at a very quick pace.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Claudie Cooper celebrates a Yorkshire wicket with Lauren Winfield-Hill and Jess Jonassen. All three will play for SunRisers Leeds.
“The only thing I’d say, we just need some continuity from now on. There’ll be a massive change in The Hundred, the county system in the women’s game has changed drastically in the last two years. Just let it settle down now.
“Let’s enjoy what it is and let it grow from there.
“Lauren has spoken publicly about that as well.”
From an on-field point of view, Pyrah says of the SunRisers’ squad: “On paper, we are pretty strong.”
And of their main challengers, he added: “Southern Brave look like they’ve got a decent squad together. Probably one of the strongest bowling attacks.
“MI London look like a decent team. I think every team will look strong on paper, it’s about bringing it together.
“There’s hardly any prep time before the start. The Blast Finals Day (today) is on two or three days before the first game. It’s going to be a quick changeover.
“It’s who can gel together quickly and create a formula that works.”
Picture by John Phillips/Getty Images. Kaviya Maran, chief executive of SunRisers Leeds, places a bid during The Hundred auction in March.
