Warwickshire: Gavin Larsen quits as Bears performance director

Larsen will return home to New Zealand next week, although he will remain in the post into the new year “to ensure a smooth transition”.

Warwickshire chief executive Stuart Cain said: “Gavin has a great energy and a depth of cricketing knowledge that is second to none.

“He has worked tirelessly to improve the high-performance environment. Whilst not linked, we will now combine the findings of the high-performance review with the chance to freshen up our high-performance leadership team.”

Under first-team coach Mark Robinson, Warwickshire finished seventh out of 10 in the County Championship last season, winning just once in 14 games, to stay up with 25 points to spare. They lost in the T20 Blast quarter-finals for the fifth straight year – and also in the semi-finals of the One-Day Cup.

Following the reorganisation of women’s cricket in this country, Warwickshire will also be running a women’s side next season for the first time, under Alistair Maiden, competing in the women’s T20 and the women’s One-Day Cup.