Top of the South Community Foundation Executive Officer and Blackcaps selector Gavin Larsen has been appointed Performance Director at the Warwickshire County Cricket Club (WCCC).

“It’s with mixed emotions that I am leaving TotSCF to take up this amazing opportunity in the UK but I know the foundation is in good heart and will continue to actively encourage and enable generosity for the benefit of our communities,” says Gavin.

Dave Ashcroft, Chair of  TotSCF says while the foundation is sorry to see Gavin go, he does so with the board’s good wishes.

“We’re really excited for Gavin, who has just landed a pinnacle-of-cricket-career role with the Warwickshire County Cricket Club.

“We are grateful for what Gavin has helped the foundation achieve since his appointment in 2020. The foundation continues to make incredible progress, with the portfolio on track to grow through $6m and our 2023 distributions on track to be the biggest ever, in excess of $200k.

“We’re set up really nicely on the back of our recent ‘get-the-basics-right’ strategies to have a new EO continue our trajectory, and Trustees will make sure we recruit someone who will continue the great work of recent years.”

Gavin says it is a wonderful journey that TotSCF is on. “I know that the Board will secure a new EO, with her or his own fresh thinking, and our foundation will keep driving forward.

“The progress we’ve made over the last couple of years has been exciting and I’ve relished being a part of that.

“It has been incredibly satisfying working for TotSCF, and assisting in supporting and growing our local Top of the South communities has been heart-warming. I’ll certainly miss working with our donors and the amazing people out on the coalface who do such great work.”

Gavin says he and Karen are excited about this new chapter that’s opened up for them, but certainly their hearts will remain in NZ, and in Mapua which they love.

“The Warwickshire role is exciting and challenging, with one of the biggest and most successful counties in English cricket and I’m really looking forward to getting my teeth in to it.

While Gavin is leaving TotSCF in good form, he’s also leaving New Zealand Cricket and the Blackcaps at an exceptional high point too. On Tuesday February 28 the Blackcaps completed one of their greatest triumphs, stunning England to win by just one run at the Basin Reserve.

A former New Zealand Test and ODI player, Gavin was the Chief Executive of Cricket Wellington, and the ICC Cricket Operations Manager ahead of the 2015 World Cup, before being appointed Blackcaps Selection Manager in 2015.

In the subsequent years, the BLACKCAPS have played in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup Final and the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup Final; have won the inaugural ICC World Test Championship and have, at different times, been ranked as the world’s No.1 team in each of the three formats.

NZC’s GM High Performance Bryan Stronach says Gavin can look back with pride on a highly successful term as the Blackcaps Selection Manager.

“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. His appointment at Edgbaston reflects the value and respect that he’s held in around the cricketing world.

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