WELLINGTON, April 8, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Gary Stead announced Tuesday he will step down as New Zealand's white-ball cricket coach and is considering his future with the Test team.

The 53-year-old, who has been in charge of all three formats since taking over from Mike Hesson in 2018, said he wanted to spend more time at home.

"I'm looking forward to getting away from touring life for a while and having a think about my future," he said, pointing to a hectic calendar in the last six months that saw "relatively non-stop cricket".

Stead said he was evaluating his options, "but still feel I have coaching left in me, albeit not as head coach across all formats.

"I'll be in a better position to know whether I want to reapply for the Test coaching position after this time of reflection," he added.

Arguably New Zealand's most successful coach, Stead's contract expires in June.

New Zealand Cricket's chief high-performance officer Bryan Stronach said the search for a new coach would begin next week, with Stead being given time to decide if he wants to reapply for the Test role.

"Gary's results have been very impressive over a long period and we're very comfortable giving him some time to collect his thoughts and mull things over," said Stronach.

"At the moment we haven't any strong preference for either a split-coaching role or a sole appointment who covers all three formats.

"We're unlikely to be clearer on that until we see who's putting their name forward."