ARU ropes in cricket boss
Australian Rugby Union CEO Bill Pulver finalised his executive with the appointment of former Cricket Australia National Participation Manager Andrew Larratt – to the position of General Manager rugby participation.
Larratt has been a part of State and National Cricketing bodies since 1999 in a variety of roles including, Cricket ACT CEO, Cricket Australia Senior Manager Junior Brand, Education and Training Manager and Strategic Advisor.
Larratt is the final appointment in Pulver's executive, following an internal financial and organisational review that delivered a revised organisational structure focused on investment in the certain key strategic areas.
This include:
* Expanded participation in the game with a focus on Sevens and the women's game;
* Accelerated development of elite talent to support greater success in Super Rugby, the Wallabies and our national Sevens teams;
* Re-energised Premier rugby competitions; and
* Fan Engagement Strategy to promote growth in the game.
The ARU's revised organisational structure focuses investment on these key initiatives while also driving productivity improvement to support a sustainable financial model for the game.
Pulver said he was pleased to welcome Larratt to rugby and looked forward to him joining the ARU executive in mid-September.
"Andrew will be a great addition to our executive, he has a proven record in sport business management and growing participation," Pulver said.
"For the past seven years Andrew has been a senior manager within Cricket Australia after working his way through the organisation via the game development route.
"Andrew has planned and delivered key programmes that have assisted Cricket Australia in maintaining and growing their entry level and overall participation numbers.
"He has also led Australian Cricket's implementation of the Females in Cricket Strategy, which resulted in female participation rates increasing by 20 percent in 2009-10.
"These are key areas that ARU are focussed on developing as we move forward and Andrew will play a vital role in helping to grow our game and deliver on our key strategic initiatives."
Educated at Deakin University Larratt graduated with a Bachelor of Education.
ARU's executive:
Chief Executive Officer – Bill Pulver
Wallabies Coach – Ewen McKenzie
Chief Financial Officer – Todd Day
General Counsel – Richard Hawkins
General Manager rugby Operations – Ian Alker
General Manager Sevens – Anthony Eddy
General Manager Development Pathways – Ben Whitaker
General Manager Commercial & Marketing – John Nicholl
General Manager Media & Communications – Rachel Hickey
General Manager rugby Participation – Andrew Larratt (begins Monday 16 September
