Black Caps job to be advertised as Gary Stead steps down as coach of white-ball teams
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
The Black Caps are searching for a new coach after Gary Stead confirmed he was quitting their white-ball teams.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced on Tuesday morning that Stead was stepping down from leading the side in Twenty20s and one-day internationals, with a decision to be made on his role as test coach.
NZC confirmed its top job would be advertised from next week and said it hadn’t yet been determined if they would split coaching roles between formats.
However, one of the strong favourites to replace Stead in white-ball cricket is Rob Walter, South Africa’s former white-ball coach, who resigned from that position last week. That indicates they are planning on a separate coach for the red-ball game.
The South African has previously coached in New Zealand in roles with Otago and the Central Districts.
Stead has yet to confirm his future with the test team.
The 53-year-old said he wanted one month to decide. He had been in charge in all formats since taking over from Mike Hesson in 2018.
“I’m looking forward to getting away from touring life for a while and having a think about my future,” Stead said in a statement.
“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.”
Other candidates to replace Stead include Black Caps batting coach Luke Ronchi, the team’s former bowling coach Shane Jurgensen and Canterbury coach Peter Fulton.
Stead’s notable achievements with the Black Caps in white-ball cricket included three appearances in finals, albeit all ending in defeat in the 2019 ODI World Cup in England, the T20 World Cup in 2022 in Dubai and last month’s Champions Trophy decider in Dubai.
His major success came in red-ball cricket in the inaugural World Test Championship final in England in 2021, when they beat India.
If Stead was to resume with the test team, it would be the first time NZC has split the coaching positions. Even if Stead wasn’t retained, NZC is likely to consider separate coaches.
Bryan Stronach, NZC’s chief high performance officer, said Stead deserved the opportunity to take time over his decision.
“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,” Stronach said in a statement.
“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.”
The Black Caps’ home summer finished with an ODI series sweep of Pakistan last week, with many of their stars unavailable because of commitments to lucrative contracts in franchise cricket, such as the IPL.
They only play two tests before next summer, on a tour of Zimbabwe in July and August.
The Black Caps will have a packed home summer before Christmas, hosting Australia in three T20s in Mount Maunganui before England’s white-ball tour starts in the same month.
Their next tests at home will be three against the West Indies, who visit in December and will also play three ODIs and five T20s.