Black Caps selector Gavin Larsen steps down to join Warwickshire County Cricket Club

Gavin Larsen- Photo / Photosport

The Black Caps will be on the hunt for a new selector, with Gavin Larsen stepping down.

After seven and a half years in the role, Larsen is moving to England to join Warwickshire County Cricket Club as their Performance Director, where he will oversee the county’s men’s and women’s high performance programmes.

A former New Zealand test and ODI player, Larsen was the chief executive of Cricket Wellington, and the Cricket Operations Manager ahead of the 2015 World Cup, before being appointed Black Caps selection manager in 2015.

The Black Caps had plenty of success in that time, making the final of the 2019 ODI and 2021 T20 World Cup, winning the World Test Championship and reaching the world No 1 spot in all three formats.

However, the Black Caps recent downturn, particularly in the test arena, has led to criticism about the lack of young players coming through, with the Black Caps regularly having test sides of late with no players under the age of 30.

Larsen, who is “excited and thrilled” to be joining Warwickshire, was extremely grateful for his stint as selector.

“The past seven and a half years have just flown by and I’ve relished and enjoyed every minute of it,” Larsen said.

“The discussions and deliberations have been robust and challenging but my enduring memory will always be the quality of the people I’ve worked with – from high performance right through to the administration.

“I’ve had the time of my life.”

NZ Cricket’s GM of High Performance Bryan Stronach said Larsen could look back with pride on a highly successful term.

“Gavin was part of a support team that made a key contribution to arguably the most successful period in the history of the New Zealand men’s team,” said Stronach.

“We thank him for his years of service to NZC and congratulate him for being appointed to such a significant role with Warwickshire.”