Huge Coup: Andhra Pradesh Appoints New Zealand’s Gary Stead As Head Coach | Cricket News

In a stunning, never-before-seen move, the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) has roped in former New Zealand men’s international head coach Gary Stead for the upcoming 2025-26 domestic season. It’s unheard of for international coaches of Stead’s caliber to lead domestic Indian sides, but according to Cricbuzz, the 53-year-old has signed a one-year contract with an extension of another year likely.

Stead will reach Visakhapatnam in a week, will have a look at the team’s probables, and will collaborate with the state selection committee over selections. The report said Stead’s work visa in India has been approved, and he is likely to take charge between September 20-25. It also added that Stead asked for a visit home for Christmas, which the ACA were more than happy to agree.

“We were initially looking at an Australian coach. Then a friend suggested, why not try Gary? So we reached out to him, and right from the very first conversation, we were struck by his preparedness. He came to the meeting with a complete understanding of our team,” the report cited ACA secretary Sana Sathish Babu as saying.

Stead has won the biggest titles for New Zealand and is a huge part of their success stories in the last decade.

He led them to the inaugural World Test Championship final win against India in 2021 and was the coach when they thumped Rohit Sharma’s men 3-0 last year, the first home Test whitewash for the hosts in a Test series of three or more matches in their history.

For the achievement, he had arranged specific spin camps back home for the New Zealand team, making them watch videos and practice on dry, turning tracks against the best spinners they could find in the country.

Stead was also the coach when New Zealand drew the World Cup 2019 final against England (after beating India in the semi-final) and only lost the trophy on boundary count.  He left the job in June and has since been replaced by Rob Walter.

Andhra would hope Stead’s world-class experience could help them turn things around after finishing sixth in the Ranji Elite Group B and fourth in their eight-team group in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.