Gary Stead to remain NZC national team’s coach till 2025

• Gary Stead will continue as the NZ men’s cricket team’s head coach through 2025.
• NZC had previously considered split coaching roles.
• Stead will receive support from temporary consultant coaches.

Gary Stead will continue serving as the head coach of New Zealand Cricket’s national men’s squad through the 2025 ICC World Test Championship cycle.

NZC have previously chosen to use different instructors in various formats. They later changed their minds and decided to keep Stead as the team’s head coach through 2025.

In a statement confirming Stead’s contract renewal, NZC’s high performance executive Bryan Stronach said, “With most of our leading Black Caps playing across all three formats, and the culture of the group so strong and positive, we saw clear benefits in supporting the status quo.”

Stead himself asked the board to take into consideration a separate head coach for restricted overs in March, but on Tuesday he stated that New Zealand would probably not benefit from such a separation.

“We’re not a big country … Our pool of players is a little bit smaller perhaps than other countries around the world,” he told reporters.

“It makes the split coaching model probably not quite as relevant as other countries.”

Instead, he will continue to receive support from temporary consultant coaches for single trips who bring specialized abilities or familiarity with forms and circumstances abroad.

Stephen Fleming, Shane Bond, Saqlain Mushtaq, and Thilan Samaraweera are recent hires.

Additionally, he will have the freedom to substitute other staff members for him in some tour engagements.

“I was pretty open with New Zealand Cricket, and sort of explained that the idea of being away for eight or nine months on the road is unsustainable for anyone, players or staff,” he said.

“I’m certainly open to new coaches coming in. I don’t have to be the head guy, the front guy all the time.”