After leaving white-ball formats, Gary Stead, the head coach of New Zealand, will have a few weeks to determine whether he wants to reapply for the Test position.
In 2018, Stead was initially appointed to the role when Mike Hesson resigned. Then, in 2020 and 2023, his contract was extended twice.
In June, Stead’s current contract comes to an end.
In 2021, New Zealand defeated India 3-0 in India and won the first World Test Championship under Stead.
“I’m looking forward to getting away from touring life for a while and having a think about my future,” Stead stated. “My goal has been to have a successful season finale with a team that has less experience. Since September, there has been almost constant cricket action, making the last six to seven months very active. Even though I don’t want to be a head coach in every format, I still feel like I have coaching left in me.
“I’ll have more time to talk about the matter with my wife, family, and other people during the course of the upcoming month. After this period of introspection, I’ll be in a better position to decide if I want to reapply for the Test coaching role.”
“We’re very comfortable giving Gary some time to gather his thoughts and mull things over because his results have been very impressive over a long period of time,” stated Bryan Stronach, Chief High Performance Officer of NZC.
“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.”
“Within the next week or so,” according to a media release from New Zealand Cricket, the coaching position’s ads will be released.