On Wednesday, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced that Gary Stead is the new head coach of New Zealand cricket team. The former Test cricketer is taking the job after Mike Hesson’s resignation from the post in last June.

Stead has signed a two-year contract with the national cricket board for his new role that will begin from September. His first assignment will be New Zealand’s tour of UAE to play against Pakistan in bilateral T20I, ODI and Test series from this October to December.

Also read: New Zealand Cricket announces squads for the Pakistan series in UAE tour

This big change has come when the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup is just more than nine months to go. Hesson had a contract with the national team till the end of the 2019 WC but he decided to retire from his role last June after spending almost six years on that post. Hesson took that decision to spend more time with his wife and children.

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The 46-year-old Stead played only 5 Tests for New Zealand, all in 1999, and the right-handed batsman scored 278 run with the average of 34.75.

He has played 101 first-class matches and 103 List A matches from 1991/92 to 2006 where he scored 4,984 runs and 2,173 runs respectively. After retiring as a cricketer, Stead took the coaching job and had a successful tenure in that role for New Zealand women’s cricket team as they had finished as the runners-up in 2009 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.

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After taking the new role, Stead said, “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. 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.”