Yorkshire to hire former staff member sacked during Azeem Rafiq racism scandal

Yorkshire will rehire one of the 16 members of staff sacked during the racism scandal, by appointing Richard Pyrah as head coach of their women’s team.

Pyrah was a steady all-rounder for the club for 12 seasons until 2015, when he retired from playing and moved into the coaching staff. He filled a number of roles, including in the women’s set-up, and was eventually men’s bowling coach.

But in late 2021, at the height of the racism scandal that plunged the county into disarray, he was one of 16 members of Yorkshire’s back-room staff dismissed for signing a letter to the board that claimed Azeem Rafiq was on a “one-man mission to bring down the club”. Others sacked included director of cricket Martyn Moxon and head coach Andrew Gale.

The decision, made by then-chairman Lord Patel, sparked fury among sections of the dressing room and support base. Yorkshire later admitted at a tribunal that the dismissals had been “procedurally unfair”, and reached a financial settlement with Pyrah and others.

In March 2023, Pyrah was one of six men found to have brought the game into disrepute over allegations of historical racism, at a Cricket Discipline Commission hearing. Pyrah, like four of the other accused former players, withdrew their cooperation from the process, so did not appear before the commission. Pyrah said the process was not “open, fair or transparent”. One allegation against him was upheld, but another was not.

Pyrah was handed a £2,500 fine, and told to take an “appropriate racism/discrimination education course identified by the ECB” at his own expense. It is understood that he has now done both these things, and that the ECB has no objections to his returning to the game.

Contract to begin next month

Pyrah said in March 2023 that the scandal had “cost me a very promising coaching career”, and was working away from the game in the construction industry.

But now he is returning to cricket. He will be appointed as the head coach of their women’s team in the new structure of domestic cricket from next season, and the finishing touches are being placed on a contract that will begin next month. He will be the first of the sacked 16 to return to the club.

Yorkshire declined to comment.

After the job was advertised, Pyrah, 41, was one of four candidates interviewed by a three-person panel that included Katherine Sciver-Brunt, the great Yorkshire and England fast bowler who is now on the club board. As well as experience with Yorkshire’s men’s team, he has worked in the women’s game with the Diamonds regional team.

Yorkshire’s involvement in the launch of the new women’s domestic structure has been controversial. Moving away from the regional structure that has been used since 2016, the ECB invited applications from first-class counties to host one of eight teams in a fully professional Tier One, with Tiers Two (semi-professional) and Three (an amateur bridge between the recreational and professional games) to follow underneath.

Yorkshire were overlooked for a place in Tier One from 2025, with Durham’s bid preferred. Yorkshire were told they would initially take a place in Tier Two before being added to Tier One (alongside Glamorgan) in 2027. Yorkshire made no secret of their fury over this, resulting in a partial U-turn from the ECB, who agreed they could join Tier One in 2026.

Yorkshire to begin in Tier Two

So Pyrah is set to take charge of a team in Tier Two in his first season in charge (2025) before moving up to Tier One. He looks set to be boosted by the presence in his ranks of York-born England wicketkeeper-batter, Lauren Winfield-Hill. She is expected to sign a lucrative long-term deal with her home county. Most players from Northern Diamonds, the current regional team based largely at Headingley, appear likely to head to Tier One. Diamonds head coach Danielle Hazell and captain Hollie Armitage are heading to Durham.

Yorkshire are also on the hunt for a general manager and head coach for their men’s first team, after it was confirmed that Ottis Gibson would be leaving at the end of the season.