Important to be Clear on Game Plan and Roles Ahead of World Cup: Gary Stead

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead recently admitted that he is focusing on all-rounders as he is in the process of finalising the combination for the upcoming 2019 ICC World Cup in England.

Meanwhile, New Zealand finished 2018 with a record winning streak of four-match Test series. And now, they will shift their focus in the ODIs when they face Sri Lanka in the three-match series starting from January 3. In addition to, the Black Caps will take on India and Bangladesh as Gary Stead is aiming to find the right combinations before the World Cup.

“It’s really now [about] looking ahead to the World Cup, being clear on the game plans we want to use and making sure the roles we want to get people in — that we’re playing to those roles as well,” Stead said to New Zealand Herald.

“They’re about tweaking, looking at the style of play and how we want to play and looking at the options who fit those roles as well. It’s definitely a trial period still,” he added.

The Kiwis are without the services of Colin de Grandhomme, Corey Anderson, but Mitchell Santner is coming back from injury and will join Jimmy Neesham and Doug Bracewell for the series against Sri Lanka. They have also brought in the uncapped wicket-keeper batsman Tim Seifert.

However, Gary Stead suggested that the position of the all-rounder is still open. He is looking to set the game plan and style of play.

“We’re still looking at some places within our team. We want to see more of the all-rounders, we’re looking at Tim Seifert as a backup keeping option as well.

The biggest thing for me is looking at the style of play, game plan, and looking ahead to the World Cup, where we know it’s likely to be 300-plus scores. I want to make sure we get our heads around that as well,” he concluded.