RICH PYRAH and Andrew Gale have both been invited to help coach England’s Young Lions this winter, writes Graham Hardcastle.

Yorkshire’s coaching duo will be working with the seam bowlers and batsmen respectively at the ECB’s National Performance Centre in Loughborough.

The Young Lions squad, effectively the country’s Under 19s, includes White Rose trio Harry Duke, Matthew Revis and Sam Wisniewski.

Bowling coach Pyrah and head coach Gale are combining their winter training commitments at Emerald Headingley with regular trips down to the East Midlands for three or four-day camps, overseen by Young Lions head coach Jon Lewis.

“It is nice from a personal point to get recognition like this,” said Pyrah. “I’m still young as a coach and learning, but I think it’s going pretty well.

“We’ve brought some good young lads through at Yorkshire this last couple of years.

“To be asked to be involved with the Young Lions, working with I think it’s 12 seamers from all over the country, is brilliant.

“There’s not going to be a tour until maybe later in the winter, so it’s a good chance to get a hold of the lads and have some proper training time down at Loughborough.

“This is the first time I’ve properly worked with an England group.

“I’ve done quite a few consultancy days with the senior England group at Test Matches and stuff. But that’s not hands on coaching.

“So to be much more involved in training and the future planning is a great experience and really exciting.”

Pyrah turned to coaching immediately after retiring as a player in late 2015.

In a little over five years since, the former all-rounder has worked as the head coach of the Yorkshire Diamonds women, has worked as a coaching consultant in the Australian Big Bash and has developed some of the country’s most talented fast bowlers at Emerald Headingley.

“I retired pretty young as a player and went into coaching at 32,” continued Pyrah. “I’ve just turned 38 now. When I think about the experiences I’ve had, it’s quite a lot. It’s building nicely.

“I’m pleased that my experience has been across many areas and not just focused on one. It’s been a really good five years for me.

“My end goal is to be England’s bowling coach.

“Yorkshire is my number one, but hopefully I will be able to add some extra jobs like this on top of that.

“Without going into international cricket, the job I’ve got at the minute coaching Yorkshire’s bowlers is probably the best in the world.

“The next step from this job is England bowling coach. In the future, we’ll have to see.”

While Pyrah is working alongside former seamer Lewis, Gale, himself an ex-England under 19s player, is helping Ian Bell bring on the country’s best young batsmen.

“It’s nice to have been invited onto that, working with the best young players in the country,” said Gale.

“It’s a great set-up. I’m a big admirer of Under 19s cricket, as long as it doesn’t detract from developing at senior level.

“To be able to develop further as young coaches in that environment is very valuable for both myself and Rich.

“Seeing our lads in that environment and seeing the cream at that age, being able to compare it to what we’ve got back at Yorkshire, is also very useful.

“Belly is running the batting camp, and listening to him talk about batting has been good.”

Gale added: “I look back to my Under 19s days and it was great learning.

"You make lifelong friends from other counties, and you also get to travel and play against other players from different countries.

“The social side isn’t really there at the minute.

"They’re either training or back in their rooms, so it’s a very different experience.

“But the good thing is that they’re getting lots of cricket at this time of year and different coaches throwing ideas at them.”