RICH Pyrah is hoping to stake a claim for a place in Yorkshire’s LV= County Championship team at the start of next season should he be given the nod for tomorrow’s final match of 2014 against Somerset at Headingley.

The experienced all-rounder is expected to make his sixth four-day appearance of the summer with Tim Bresnan ruled out with a torn pectoral muscle.

Pyrah has also urged his team-mates not to let their standards slip even though they have already won the league because he believes the Yorkshire faithful should be rewarded with a ninth win.

“I know we’ve won it but to play in front of our home crowd as champions will be fantastic,” said 31-year-old Pyrah, next year’s beneficiary.

“Hopefully we get another win for them before lifting the trophy at home, which is something we really want to do. It excites us and it’s like a cup final really.

“We won’t take it for granted that we’ve already won the league. We will go out there and try and win because the crowd have supported us well all year and we want to go out in style.

“It would be wrong, with the standards we’ve been playing to, to let those standards slip now. Let’s finish on a high.”

Although Pyrah has only played five Championship matches this term, he has made a significant contribution on and off the field, including a crucial three-wicket haul and 62 with the bat in the win against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in June.

But still, he is keen to play a bigger part in their title defence next season.

“I’ve played a lot of cricket and I know my role within the team. But you never know, if Brezzy gets recalled by England, I want to be the next person in that team,” he said.

“I was pretty unlucky when I broke into the four-day team consistently in 2011. I did well and had nearly 30 wickets and 400 runs, something like that. Then I ruptured my knee later in the summer before I broke my hand twice the year after.

“That really set me back in four-day cricket. This year is the first year for a while that I’ve felt consistent in four-day cricket since that year and a half I had out.

“It’s taken me two years to get my batting back up there after missing such a long period. Hopefully I can keep it going.”

Somerset currently lie sixth in Division One with four wins, two losses and nine draws, the first of those coming against Yorkshire at Taunton in the opening fixture of the summer in mid-April.

Pyrah said: “They’ve got some quality players. (Craig) Kieswetter is back after injury and he’s one of those. They’re a good team who’ve missed out on the Championship a few times in the last five years.

“There’s not many poor sides in the first division now. It’s a high standard all the way through, so you’ve get to be on your game all the time.”