Gary Stead will continue as New Zealand head coach until mid-2025, with the upcoming 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup and ICC World Test Championship in the spotlight, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced on Tuesday. First appointed to a two-year term at the end of 2018, Stead renewed his contract in 2020 until the end of the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup in India, and will now remain until the conclusion of the current World Test Championship cycle. , in June 2025,” said a statement from NZC.
The decision follows a lengthy and detailed consultation process during which Stead, arguably New Zealand’s most successful men’s coach, received unanimous support to continue in charge.
Bryan Stronach, high performance general manager at Cricket New Zealand, said the case for retaining Stead was compelling.
“Support for Gary was overwhelmingly positive – from the players, Blackcaps support staff, coaches and support staff from major associations, as well as the New Zealand Cricketers Association and staff from the NZC High Performance Unit,” Bryan said.
“Gary’s results have been very impressive and we are sure 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 made it clear that his appetite to move this team forward was as intense as ever,” he added.
Bryan said a formal split-training model for the position was considered and rejected, though there remained flexibility for the NZC to co-opt additional training staff if it wished.
“A split coaching role was discussed at length, but, with most of our leading Blackcaps playing across all three formats, and the group culture so strong and positive, we saw clear benefits in supporting the status quo. Of all the different potential scenarios, we consider this to be the best option available to us,” he said.
Bryan said new voices and ideas would continue to be introduced to players through the “fourth coach” concept, in which Blackcaps touring teams are supported by coaches with a specialized skill set or knowledge of environments or formats. specific abroad.
Recent examples of this include Stephen Fleming, Shane Bond, Saqlain Mushtaq, Luke Wright, and Thilan Samaraweera.
Stead’s re-election period will include the ICC T20 World Cup in June/July 2024, the ICC ODI Champions Trophy in February/March 2025 and, if applicable, the ICC World Test Championship Final, in June 2025 .
NZC chief executive David White said he was pleased that the process behind Stead’s re-election was detailed and robust.
“Several months of discussion and consultation preceded this decision, and as CEO, I am very pleased that all options were well considered,” White said.
“I am very happy for Gary. He is a quality person, he has the support and confidence of the players and he is very good at his work. I am sure all Kiwi cricket fans will join me in wishing him well in the next two years.”
Test captain Tim Southee said the players were pleased Stead was reappointed.
“Gary had great success taking us to the finals in all three formats and of course winning the World Test Championship. It’s been great the way he’s come in and built on what’s been accomplished before,” Southee said.
Southee said the role of today’s head coach is as much about managing people as it is about the technical aspects of the job.
“The extensive amount of time players and support staff spend away from family and loved ones creates a challenging environment. With so much cricket being played these days, being able to effectively manage people and their workloads is a big part of the job,” he concluded.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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