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December 11, 2024 11 mins

New Zealand cricket coach Gary Stead has been asked if he'll continue mentoring the national side beyond his current contract, which ends after the World Test Championship wraps in June.

Stead's had unprecedented success from more than six years in charge, winning the World Test Championship, beating India in a series away and reaching 50-over and 20-over World Cup finals. 

However, the team have lost consecutive test series at home to Australia and England, and missed this year's T20 World Cup play-offs.

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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Duncy Wildergrave
from News talks'd be.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
And it's a very good day to forman Zellen coach.
Warren Lee's good day.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
Warren Afternoon from Queenstown, sunny Queenstound full of tourists, lovely place.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Thanks for rubbing that in chairs in the overcast at Auckland.
The interesting times for New Zealand cricket boys is, isn't it?

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Quite?

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Frankly? Gary Steed is going to oversee what could be
his last Test match this weekend and then I'm presuming
sometime in June the job is up for grabs. Does
Gary Steed deserve to carry on in that role? Do
you think that he's held for so long?

Speaker 3 (00:47):
I definitely think he deserves to have the opportunity to reapply.
If he's interested, he should put his name forward. You
don't open up the field for other people until you
find whether the incumbent is interested or not. Did I
I actually think that over the time Gary's been involved,
he's developed a confidence that he possibly didn't have at

(01:08):
the start. His team has served him well. We haven't
had the ruptions within the playing members as much as
has happened in the past, and I think his record
really stands up. I think we look back, he's possibly
still a rather conservative coach, which is fine, and even
a more conservative selector. But that's the that's the character

(01:32):
that Gary is. He played trick it the same way,
so I certainly have you put the name in the
head if he if he's interested.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
So the idea of giving him the job if he
wants it or not doesn't sit comfortably with you, and
nor should it. Quite frankly, no.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
I think I think it goes on the open market
not making the decisions. I can't guarantee anyonere else that
he's in cridles and will see it my way, but
I think it's good to have competition for these things.
When the job comes up for grabs, however, there will
be people with more knowledge than me, who will have
more of a background of exactly what's going on within

(02:08):
the dressing room and at the practice sessions, and over
the selection and over the non selection in particular of
certain players who had one hundred percent support of every
other sports watcher in the country at times. So Gary
hasn't always done what was expected. But I think over

(02:28):
the time he's possibly found it harder to drop players
than to select new players. And if that's a criticism, well,
I'm sorry. That's the way it is.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Isn't that worked to a degree though Warren, to his favor,
very difficult to get into the black Caps also very
difficult to be dropped. So you have a sense of
trust from people around you and you're not batting from
innings to innings thinking this could be my last turn back.
Surely that that generates confidence, but in this case has

(02:59):
gone too far you saying, well, I know, I just said.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
What I mean is I think loyalty is a fantastic
word in team sport, and I think that just goes
it goes past the players into the support crew as well.
So you've got selectors, you've got coaches, you've got other
people around the team who are helping out, and it's
good to have loyalty within that group. But you've also
got to be prepared to say, well, hold on winners

(03:26):
long enough. Too long, And it also doesn't give an
equal opportunity for younger players coming through at all times.
I'm not saying you just change the team holds bold
as every time some of our three failures are over,
they're out because you've got to look more deeply than that,
and I think Gary has been quite good at that,
except there have been times where you think, gee, we've

(03:48):
used an awful lot of medium taste bowlders over a
three year period, but bitterly some have got injured. But
some of these players have gone away on some of
these tours, probably four or five tours have only had
two or three games in total, so you sort of
wonder about that at times. But of course Gary's not
the only selector.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Military medium pace. That was the term way back in
your day, wasn't it, Warren. It's not unusual.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
No, it's certainly not, certainly not unusual. I think we
didn't have a choice. We really only had military medium pace,
and I think that was one of the problems. Mind you.
We we obviously prepared pictures to suit, which is something
we've complained about in different countries, and we seem to
ignore when it comes to our own country. But now

(04:33):
I think, look overall, I think if Gary is interested,
he must put his name forward, if only to open
up the field, to actually let people compare, and to
have the committee who choose the next new Zealan credit coach.
We let them actually sit down with all those people
who candidate, who put their name forward, and look at

(04:54):
the history of each player, of each person.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
You obviously aren't making the decision. Are you rather be
in Queenstown? I completely understand that. But when you do
peck or retain a coach, what predominantly do the selectors
or the board rely on. Do they look at results?
Do they look at team culture? Do they look at turnover?
Do they look at ruckus within their camp? How do

(05:17):
they weigh this up? In general? Do you think Warren
leaves from your experience?

Speaker 3 (05:22):
I think it's improved. I think it's hugely improved over
the last eighteen to fifteen years. And our players have
sought their careers elsewhere where there's possibly more money, more
financial return, and therefore I think things have changed quite
a bit. I also think that it's pretty important for

(05:42):
all of those aspects that you talk about to be
considered very very carefully, and a coach himself when he
comes into the child You'll find that most coaches are
completely different people after their first tour out of the country,
after their first season, after their first major problems with selection.
Be it through injury or that to form and how

(06:04):
they feel, how they deal with the public, have I
deal with the media goes into pretty important now which
possibly weren't taken into account in the past. And I
think your round person who spells loyal with our capital
l I think is someone who's pretty important.

Speaker 2 (06:25):
Growth is an interesting concept Warren and suggesting that they've
seen that in a coaching staff, and they've moved with
the times and they've been at the forefront of change.
That's quite important. Even though he's a very as you said,
he's a very safe and sensible coach with the selections
as well as he's shown enough that he is actually

(06:45):
at the front of the game and the way it's developing,
because that's really important why it moves so fast in
this day and age.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah, I think he canes. I've seen very recently at
different times at different grounds, and we've had a couple
of chats about certain things. I think, if anything, he's
very controlled. He seems calm. I think he seems a
lot more confident than he was perhaps even as a player.

(07:12):
I mentioned that before, and I think he seems to
have his fingertips that perhaps he doesn't always let on.
But I think he seems pretty in control of the situation,
and that sort of speaks of someone who's got a
good support crew around him. He's not looking sideways or
looking for reasons to go behind what you say. I

(07:33):
think he takes things as you put it. Is he
don't have to agree with Gary. He's not that sort
of person. He'll accept it if you have a different opinion,
and he'll be polite about it. But I think you'll
go away and think about things and consider any ideas
that are given to him. It's a real strength that
he has. I don't think he even enjoys the media sometimes,

(07:54):
but that's okay because the media will get to understand that.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
But who does I mean, you've dealt with him long
enough as if he said on cricket coach and know
how it rolls.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Well. No, there was a very brief time rights who
loved them assault the media when we were winning and
I hid from the under a blanket, the black blanket
in the back of the the back of the bus
when we were losing. But I think that's quite typical
of life with it.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
Is there a shelf life for a coach at this level?
Do you think can they gross scale?

Speaker 3 (08:23):
So perhaps can if they are allowing the senior players,
the boys who used to years ago sit in the
back of the bus. If they let no senior players
start to dominate the dressing room too much, yeah, I
think you lose the weepers of your of your confidence
from the players. And I think that, I don't know,

(08:43):
I'm not saying that, Garrett, but you have to keep
of that. And I do think that there are times
where the senior players, as they get order, as they
don't have the success they used to have on the field,
they start looking for shortcuts, and there there's the very
time that an experienced coach needs to stampers mark, pull

(09:04):
the boys back into order and make sure there aren't
any splits it within the team. And I'm not saying
there are, but I think Gary is very good at that.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Sort of thing, which leads us nicely to how key
is success in the final test match, the final home
test match of the season, and Tim Salvey there's a
senior player and been bowling at his best. I kin'd
of feel they have to is that part of what
you're talking about that he should acquiesce to the wants
of everyone to give him a farewell or do they

(09:33):
wagner him.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
Well, I do actually believe that the word success in
the last Test, which wouldn't be discussing too much. I
doubt that it's going to happen. Seriously. I think we're
playing against a very very confident, a very aggressive English
team who knows they've got the New Zealand team on
the rope and they'll be determined under McCollum to keep
them there. However, I also think with the Sauvie situation, well,

(09:57):
I have given him this quite a lot of thoughts.
It's fine to say to someone well played, you've had
a wonderful career and you can have the last Test
match at home that was a month ago. They decide
what about that young fellaw who's done really well in
first class cricket and is due to have his first
give a Test and the excitement in his Sami and
his grandmother, of people down the street and people who

(10:18):
support the young fellow no matter who he plays for,
and he misses out because an old player is given
an extra game, and I know, I don't know that
that's exactly the way it is. That it just doesn't
sit well with me. I think tiss cricket is very,
very important, and TIS cricket is the final nail that
everyone wants. They want to play kiss cricket. And to

(10:42):
take a game away from someone who's young and on
their way up to give it to someone because he's
given good service does not suit well with doing many people.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
And finally, Warren Lee's foreman, he's doing cricket.

Speaker 3 (10:54):
Coach.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
Would you pick Saldy for this last test?

Speaker 3 (10:56):
No, I'm sorry, I probably wouldn't. I probably wouldn't. And
I know the loyaltys is home grew all those things,
But I don't know if you actually sat down blind
with all these with all these things in front of you,
and all these players who could play, and you pick
the very best eleven players to go on the path
given them where we play spin or not, those things

(11:17):
come into it. I don't think he'd make the team.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to news talks.
They'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
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