New Zealand head coach Gary Stead has decided to call it quits from white-ball formats and only has a few weeks to decide upon being the coach of the Test team. Under his guidance, the Kiwis made it to the finals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 event in Pakistan. He also played a pivotal role in helping New Zealand reach the semis of the ODI World Cup 2023. On both occasions, the team lost to India and failed to win a maiden ICC World Cup for New Zealand.
Stead was appointed as head coach in 2018 following Mike Hesson's resignation. He also renewed his contract twice in 2020 and 2023 after taking New Zealand to great highs in ICC events. Stead's current contract runs till June.
Undoubtedly, the New Zealand coach's most memorable moment came when his team won their maiden ICC trophy by beating India in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final in 2021. Three years later, the Kiwis scripted history by being the first team ever to whitewash India in Tests by a 3-0 margin.
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"I'm looking forward to getting away from touring life for a while and having a think about my future," Stead said. "My focus has been on finishing the season strongly with a lesser experienced team. The past six to seven months has been particularly busy with relatively non-stop cricket action since September. I now want to evaluate my options but still feel I have coaching left in me, albeit not as Head Coach across all formats.
"The next month will give me the opportunity to discuss the situation more with my wife, family and others. I'll be in a better position to know whether I want to reapply for the Test coaching position after this time of reflection."
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NZC Chief High Performance Officer Bryan Stronach lavishes huge praise on Gary Stead for his coaching stint
NZC Chief High-Performance Officer Bryan Stronach was effusive in praise of Stead for his contribution to help New Zealand become one of the most consistent teams in white-ball cricket. He has accepted Stead's decision and has given him some time to think about his role as head coach of the Test team.
"Gary's results have been very impressive over a long period and we're very comfortable giving him some time to collect his thoughts and mull things over.
"At the moment we haven't any strong preference for either a split-coaching role or a sole appointment who covers all three formats, and we're unlikely to be clearer on that until we see who's putting their name forward."
NZC also announced the advertisement for the coaching position will happen within the next week.
