ALL-ROUNDER Rich Pyrah has been granted a benefit year in 2015 by Yorkshire.

The player who took the catch which sealed LV= County Championship glory against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on Friday has been rewarded for 13 years of service to his home county.

Pyrah has far from been a regular in Championship cricket throughout his career but he has cemented his place in their one-day and Twenty20 teams through his ability as a seam bowler, a very effective lower middle-order batsman and a gun fielder.

The 31-year-old debuted in List A cricket for the Yorkshire Cricket Board in 2001 and debuted for the county three years later.

He follows his close friend Tim Bresnan, who is coming towards the end of his benefit year.

“I think, having come through the Yorkshire system and playing for over 13 years like I have, it’s a very, very proud moment,” said Pyrah, who has progressed via Yorkshire’s Academy and is a former Bradford League player with Cleckheaton, Woodlands and Pudsey Congs.

“To play for Yorkshire was a proud moment, but to be here and be recognised for the work I’ve done, it makes me and my family very proud. It’s a massive thing.

“I’ve probably put into the club in different ways to some of the other names that have had benefits, but I have given to the club behind the scenes when not playing. I’m not going to take it for granted.

“It’s a massive thing, and hopefully it will help me and my family, especially when I finish.”

Pyrah, who plays for Ossett when available in the Central Yorkshire League, has taken 296 wickets in his career in all forms, scored 3,039 runs and taken 92 catches, including one very important one when James Taylor miscued Ryan Sidebottom to point on Friday.

“I’m very, very lucky that we’ve won the County Championship for my benefit year,” he added. “It’s unbelievable. And to take the winning catch, to take that into it, you couldn’t have written it.”

Meanwhile, Pyrah is in line to play in next Tuesday’s final match against Somerset at Headingley with Bresnan ruled out with a torn pectoral muscle.