Gary Stead, who ended his eight-year-long (2018 to June 2025) tenure with New Zealand Cricket (NZC) as the men’s head coach, has rejoined the board as the high-performance coach. His new position will see him “supporting player and coach development, as well as high performance programmes,” as confirmed by an NZC statement. He stepped down as head coach three months ago after the board decided against appointing multiple coaches for different formats.
Stead is New Zealand’s most successful coach, under whom the Kiwis lifted the World Test Championship (WTC) mace in 2021, their first ICC title since the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy. They also became the first team to clean sweep (3-0) India in Tests at home, and reached three finals in white-ball multinational tournaments (2019 ODI World Cup, 2021 T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy 2025). In addition, he oversaw the team’s run to the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup.
“New Zealand cricket’s very much been at my heart for the past 30 odd years, and to be able to keep contributing to the game I love is really special,” Stead said. “I’m still passionate about coaching and trying to help people learn and improve. If I can pass on some of my skills and experiences to the wider cricket network and, in turn, help the BLACKCAPS and WHITE FERNS win on the world stage, then that would be really satisfying.
“I’m also appreciative of the opportunity to work outside of NZC to broaden my skills and experiences, and hopefully I can bring what I learn back into our cricket environment.”
He will continue his domestic duties for India’s Andhra Cricket Association, which signed him as head coach for the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season. Andhra will begin their season on October 15 against Uttar Pradesh, and their schedule is likely to overlap with New Zealand’s.
Since vacating his earlier position with NZC, Stead has coached Otago Cricket and, more recently, the New Zealand under-19 camp, which began this month.
“Gary’s knowledge and experiences in cricket is immense and the fact he’s still passionate and motivated to give back to the game in this country speaks volumes about his character,” NZC chief high-performance officer Daryl Gibson said. “His role, which is a commitment of three days a week on average over the year, will see him work across much of the high-performance network, allowing our national and domestic coaches, players and staff to tap into his expertise and IP.
“Gary is also able to work outside of NZC, such as his recent part-time appointment to the Indian domestic side Andhra for their upcoming four-day competition, an experience which will allow him to further grow his knowledge and experience.”
Even before he joined the New Zealand team as head coach, he had been a regular within the NZC circuit, having coached the women’s side from 2009 to 2012 and his home Plunket Shield team, Canterbury, from 2012 to 2018, after which he took over the men’s national team from then-coach Mike Hesson. Currently, the Kiwis are coached by Rob Walter, who resigned from the same position with South Africa men’s team earlier this year.
