Gary Stead steps down as New Zealand's white-ball coach after series win over Pakistan, uncertain about Tests

New Zealand's head coach Gary Stead has stepped down from the role in white-ball formats. On April 8, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) in a press release confirmed the news.

In 2018, Stead took over as all-format coach when Mike Hesson stepped down from the position. Stead recently helped New Zealand reach the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final and register a convincing white-ball series win over Pakistan at home. He wishes to reapply but is uncertain about his future as Test team's white-ball coach.

"I'm looking forward to getting away from touring life for a while and having a think about my future," Stead said. "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."

Stead's achievements

Under Stead, New Zealand reached ODI World Cup 2019 final, T20 World Cup 2021 final as well. In the red-ball format, he helped New Zealand win the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final beating India.

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Stronach lauds Stead

New Zealand's chief high performance officer Bryan Stronach is impressed with what Stead has delivered during a seven-year period. NZC is also mulling over the idea of having different coaches for white-ball and red-ball cricket.

"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.

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"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."

New Zealand's next assignment

After the senior players return from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, New Zealand will tour Zimbabwe. They will play in a T20I tri-series involving South Africa which commences on July 14. It will be followed by a two-Test series against Zimbabwe.