New Zealand head coach Gary Stead is set to step down from the role after his contract expires at the end of the month. Stead was in the role for a total of seven years and had quite a successful stint as the coach of the Black Caps.
Stead took the NZ team to a total of four ICC finals
Under him, New Zealand won only their second-ever ICC trophy back in 2021 when they defeated India in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC). Stead also guided the team to the finals of three other major tournaments.
Firstly, the Black Caps were defeated by England in the 2019 ODI World Cup final. Following this, they suffered a loss in the 2022 T20 World Cup final against Australia and most recently, they ended up on the losing side against India in the 2025 Champions Trophy. Not to forget that under him, the team also sweeped the three-match Test series against the Men in Blue back in November last year.
"There's been some amazing memories over the past seven years, based around a group of fantastic and talented people who have gone out to give their best for their country, each other and for the fans," Stead said.
"Brendon McCullum and Mike Hesson had left the team with strong values and a style of play, and I've just tried to build and shape that further to grow our ability to be consistent in everything we do," he added.
Stead had already declared that he would step away as the coach of the T20I and ODI team, but he was still interested in coaching the Test team. However, New Zealand Cricket's (NZC) decision to keep only one head coach across the three formats ruled Stead out of the job.
Stead's final assignment with the New Zealand side will be the two-match Test series against Zimbabwe where the first match will commence from July 30 and the second will begin from August 7. It will be interesting to see who replaces Stead as New Zealand's coach in the three formats.