Pyrah returns to Yorkshire three years after racism scandal sacking

Richard Pyrah made 274 appearances for Yorkshire across all formats of the game

Richard Pyrah, who was sacked in 2021 amid the Yorkshire racism scandal, has been named as the county's new women's head coach.

The 41-year-old was found to have used racist slurs by a Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) panel in March 2023 and fined £2,500 and banned from coaching for two weeks.

During the CDC hearing, Pyrah was accused of using a racial slur relating to Pakistani heritage towards the sister of then-team-mate Azeem Rafiq as well as the term "you lot" towards groups of Asian players, both of which he denied.

The allegation Pyrah used the term "you lot" was not proved.

However, it found the allegation he used a racial slur towards Amna Rafiq and other women proved.

Pyrah's suspension has not yet been served, according to the Press Association. The Cricket Regulator is understood to be in touch with Yorkshire about the timing around Pyrah serving the ban in his new role.

The 41-year-old, who won a claim of unfair dismissal against Yorkshire in 2022, spent 10 years playing for Yorkshire and took 296 wickets across all formats of the game.

He went on to work as their bowling coach and coached Yorkshire Women's Super League Twenty20 team before being sacked.

"It's an incredible honour for me to be given the opportunity to lead Yorkshire's women side and it's the proudest moment of my career," Pyrah, who will take up his new role next month, told the club website.

"This is an exciting time to be involved in women's cricket, following the ECB's restructure of the women's professional game."

Yorkshire Women will join Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Middlesex, Sussex and Worcestershire in Tier 2 next season, with the 10 counties playing 50-over and 20-over cricket.

Yorkshire will then become a Tier 1 club for the 2026 season.