The Black Caps have announced today that Gary Stead will take over as head coach for the national cricket team on a two year contract.
Stead, 46, is a former New Zealand Test player and highly-successful coach of Canterbury, Stead emerged as the preferred candidate for the Black Caps job following the resignation of Mike Hesson in June.
The father of two has previously coached the White Ferns to the final of the women's 50-over and T20 World Cups, and Canterbury to four titles in the four summers between 2013-14 and 2016-2017.
"It's a matter of helping maintain New Zealand’s strong form on the international scene, but also respecting what's happened over the past four or five years by continuing to push for improvement," said Stead.
"This is a well-established and high-performing Black Caps side with an excellent captain in Kane Williamson, and a real desire to win series and titles.
"It's an honour and a privilege to be part of that, and I can’t wait to get started."
New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White noted the appointment followed a thorough, transparent and consultative process, which involved player representation on the appointments panel and regular feedback from the wider player group.
He said Stead was an outstanding candidate who came from a background steeped in high-performance, and had the ability to add value to the Black Caps environment.
"We're delighted for Gary - he has excellent qualifications, a solid temperament, vast experience, and is open to innovation.
"I also think it's great NZC is continuing to invest in, and recognise the primacy of, our own domestic competitions and coaching programmes."
Stead will officially start his two-year contract on September 1. His first task will be to coach the Black Caps in their Test, ODI and T20 series against Pakistan in the UAE which begins in October.
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