Sport

Stead gets three more years with Black Caps

12:19 pm on 2 September 2020

Black Caps coach Gary Stead has been re-appointed for a further three years and will continue as head coach in all three formats of the game.

Gary Stead runs fielding drills with the Black Caps. Photo: Photosport

Stead took up the job in 2018 and will now be at the helm through until the end of the 2023 cricket world cup.

His reappointment follows a strong two years with the side during which the Black Caps were unbeaten in test series apart from last summer's tour to Australia and they qualified for their second consecutive World Cup final.

The Black Caps currently sit second on the world test rankings, third in one day rankings and sixth in T20's.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White said Stead's had been interviewed by an appointments panel last week and there had also been with players, NZC high-performance staff, and major association high-performance personnel.

"What was immediately clear was that Gary had overseen a particularly successful chapter in New Zealand cricket history, during which time his team had been very strong in the Test and ODI formats," said White.

"Winning an away Test series against Pakistan and a Test in Sri Lanka was a tremendous effort, as were the home Test series wins against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, England and India.

"To tie the World Cup final and miss out on winning the trophy through a countback was a gut-wrenching experience, but I think we can all agree on how well the team played during that campaign and, equally, how well they conducted themselves afterwards."

Stead said it was an "honour and a privilege to be re-appointed".

"This group of players is growing as a team; there's an exciting schedule ahead of us and I know everyone is feeling very optimistic about our chances in all three formats.

New Zealand Cricket will now seek to appoint a batting coach for the Black Caps following Peter Fulton taking up the role of Canterbury men's coach.

-RNZ