Gary Stead to remain New Zealand head coach until mid-2025

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead, who guided them to the 2019 ODI World Cup final, 2021 T20 World Cup and the World Test Championship title, was given a two-year extension on Tuesday.

Reportedly, New Zealand Cricket was considering a format specific-coaching system which would have different coaches with expertise in particular formats; T20s, ODIs and Tests. However, after lengthy discussions with Stead, who first took on the job in 2018, they chose to re-appoint him. His tenure was initially due to end after the ODI World Cup this year.

“We started talking to Gary around firstly whether he wanted to continue in the role and keep going,” NZC’s GM High-Performance Bryan Stronach said.

“And then went through a feedback process from management and players and support staff - how supportive they are around that and gathering all that feedback came back undeniably that people were really supportive of Gary continuing and then we followed through on that process.

“There was strong feedback around Gary continuing, but there was also feedback around making sure we keep having fresh voices and ideas coming into the environment.

“I suppose the split coaching is one way of doing that, but when we weighed it all up we thought we could continue the good stuff Gary has brought to the side and the organisation, but also get the fresh ideas and so forth through other means, than just the split coaching.”

Stead’s tenure will now end in mid-2025, which means he will guide the Kiwis through the 2024 T20 World Cup, 2025 Champions Trophy and the 2023-25 World Test Championship Cycle.

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“I had talks with Bryan [Stronach] and [departing CEO] David [White] and New Zealand Cricket for a while now, just making sure they were clear on me being the right person and the feedback is nice to get back that there was support for me.

“I’m very humbled and privileged to do the role I do and for me it’s a real privilege to want to be involved with a great set of human beings representing New Zealand,” he said.

New Zealand’s Test captain Tim Southee has also expressed his pleasure at Stead’s extension.

“The sheer amount of time players and support staff spend away from family and loved ones makes for a challenging environment. With so much cricket being played these days, being able to effectively manage people and their workloads is a huge part of the job,” he said.

“Gary’s had great success leading us into finals in all three formats and, of course, that World Test Championship win. It’s been great the way that he’s come in and built on what was previously achieved.”