Gary Stead, who’s been steering New Zealand’s cricket team, has decided it’s time to step away from coaching the white-ball formats, which includes ODIs and T20s. This announcement came from New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on April 8. During his coaching stint, Stead helped the team achieve quite a bit in the white-ball arena. They reached the finals in three major competitions: the 2019 World Cup, the 2021 T20 World Cup, and just recently in the Champions Trophy held across Pakistan and the UAE.
Now, Stead is looking for a break and wants some time to decide if he still wants to coach the Test team. He mentioned that although he believes he has a few years of coaching left in him, he doesn’t want to juggle coaching all formats anymore. Interestingly, this news comes right when Rob Walter, who recently stepped down as the white-ball coach for South Africa, is reportedly in talks with New Zealand Cricket.
I’m ready to take a step back from the constant travel and really think about what I want to do next,” Stead said in the NZC release. “I’ve been focused on wrapping up this season with a team that isn’t as experienced. The last six or seven months have been packed with cricket since September, so it’s been pretty intense. He added, I want to look at my options but I’m open to the fact I still enjoy coaching, just not as the Head Coach for all formats. The next month will give me some time to chat things over with my wife, family, and friends. After some reflection, I’ll have a clearer idea if I want to put my name back in the hat for the Test coaching role.
Stead stepped into the head coach role back in 2018 after Mike Hesson left. Most recently, he led the team to the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and managed to guide a less experienced group to a solid series win against Pakistan at home in white-ball cricket. Under Stead’s guidance, New Zealand also clinched their first-ever World Test Championship in 2021. He was also at the helm when New Zealand scored a significant 3-0 victory against India on their turf, which hadn’t happened for 12 years.
Looking ahead, once the senior players wrap up their commitments in the IPL 2025, the New Zealand team is set to head to Zimbabwe. They’ll be participating in a T20 tri-series that includes South Africa, kicking off on July 14. After that, they’ll have a two-match Test series against Zimbabwe. So, Stead’s departure marks a transition period for the team, and it’ll be interesting to see what direction they’ll take in the near future.
