The New Zealand cricket teams head coach Gary Stead will continue in his position till mid-2025, the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has announced.The decision was taken amid the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup in 2023, the World Test Championship in 2023-25, the T20 World Cup in 2024, as well as the Champions Trophy which will be held in Pakistan in 2025.The decision follows a long and thorough consultative process during which Stead, arguably New Zealands most successful mens coach, received unanimous support for continuing in the role.https://t.co/do54zxV3Be— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) July 10, 2023An NZC statement labelled Stead as “arguably New Zealands most successful mens coach”, with the 51-year-old having led his country to victory in the World Test Championship in 2021, as well as qualifying for the finals of the ODI World Cup in 2019 and playing in the T20 World Cup finals in 2021.New Zealand Crickets General Manager of High-Performance, Bryan Stronach, said that the decision to appoint Stead was a unanimous one.“The support for Gary was overwhelmingly positive – from the players, the Blackcaps support staff, Major Association coaches and support staff, as well as the New Zealand Cricket Players Association and NZC High-Performance Unit staff,” Stronach said in the statement released by NZC.“Garys results have been very impressive and we are confident that he still has a lot to offer the team. Of course, a big part of this decision came down to whether Gary wanted to continue and he made it clear his appetite to take this team forward was as keen as ever.”Considered split-coaching role, decided Gary Stead was best option: NZCBryan Stronach said that New Zealand Cricket considered a formal split-coaching model for the team, but the idea was rejected in favour of a single head coach.Stronach said, “A split-coaching role was discussed in depth but, with most of our leading Blackcaps playing across all three formats, and the culture of the group so strong and positive, we saw clear benefits in supporting the status quo.“Of all the different potential scenarios, we considered this the best option available to us.”However, he said that NZC would be flexible in appointing additional coaching staff as fourth coach – specialised coaches with specific skill sets or knowledge – if the need arises. Recent examples of fourth coaches employed by NZC are Stephen Fleming, Shane Bond, Saqlain Mushtaq, Luke Wright, and Thilan Samaraweera.
