4 days ago
Scotty Stevenson: NZ Cricket favours soft power in coach appointment
A new era of Black Caps is upon us, and here's a newsflash: It will be much like the past one, writes TVNZ Sport Presenter Scotty Stevenson.
Rob Walter was finally confirmed as Black Caps head coach on Friday, ending months of speculation following Gary Stead's decision to step down as white ball coach.
Stead left the door open to retaining test responsibilities, but New Zealand Cricket promptly shut it, opting instead to persist with an all-format appointment through the next three seasons.
With that decision made, Walter always appeared to be the option favoured by the players. As outlined in April, the successful applicant needed to be much more than just a good technical cricketing brain.
Cricket's confused and chaotic global calendar, coupled with the increased concentration of power in the hands of the BCCI and its proxies, and the growing complexity of central contracts and franchise commitments, means the head coaching job demands more velvet glove than iron fist.
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Rob Walter, former South Africa coach, has been named the new Black Caps head coach. (Source: Getty)
The glove fit Gary Stead, who guided the Black Caps with minimal fuss through a time of great change in the international landscape.
Trent Boult was the first to test the limits of Stead's capacity for adaptation, closely followed by Colin de Grandhomme and more latterly by Kane Williamson, Lachie Ferguson, Devon Conway and Finn Allen, all of whom opted out of central contracts while declaring their ongoing availability for the national side. A more hot-headed coach may have been inclined to draw a line through those names, but Stead was a pragmatist who worked hard to balance the needs of the team against the wishes of the individual.
A good head coach is both a strategist and a tactician. The bigger picture is as important to them as the minute detail, and they must be capable of zooming both in and out while maintaining a sense of equilibrium in an ever-changing world. This is where Stead excelled in the role. His critics rolled their eyes at his unflappable demeanour, perceived conservatism and aversion to a memorable quote.
But it pays to be wary of the quiet ones. They tend to have things figured out long into a future the rest of us have failed to even imagine. Stead got it right more times than not, with the 2024 Caribbean World Cup disaster the one time his penchant for accommodating the wishes of his franchise stars backfired.
Stead's teams increasingly resembled him. Black Caps sides in recent years have become masters of the mono-emotion.
Black Caps head coach Rob Walter. (Source: Photosport)
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Consider the regular captains: Kane Williamson, Tom Latham, Tim Southee and Mitch Santner. In order, and in any cricketing situation, that's a direct line between completely unaroused and clinically dead. And I mean that in a nice way.
The Black Caps have become the masters of the process before outcome, and Stead was perfectly suited to that approach. There have been a couple of outliers, naturally, just to raise the pulse. Neil Wagner was one, and Darryl Mitchell another – the flickers of flame in a bed of smouldering embers.
It's fitting to mention the players here because there is no doubt they were instrumental in selecting Rob Walter to succeed Stead. Latham and Mitchell were both on the interview panel, alongside CEO Scott Weenink, and board members Dion Nash (representing a much more volatile style of Black Cap) and Roger Twose (representing an entirely different generational view). The two players would have undoubtedly plumped for a continuation of style but a fly on the wall may have been privy to some intriguing debate.
Ultimately, that player view won the day. Walter has the right level of connection to the game in New Zealand (he coached both Otago and Central Districts with success) without the wrong level of connection to the past.
Rob Walter. (Source: Photosport)
As such, he does not carry baggage into the job – either real or imagined – and that would have been a big tick in the pro column.
He's always struck as a coach who cares deeply about his players, rolls the sleeves up when it comes time to work, rolls them even higher when it comes time to relax, and understands how to plot a campaign with minimum fuss. These will all be traits that hold him in – excuse the pun – good stead with this generation of players.
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He is, in many ways, a similar coach to Gary Stead — but that's not to suggest he's a carbon copy. That's an important distinction, given this team will need to tweak its approach over the coming seasons as it continues to grow and evolve without some of its greatest performers.
Gone are the big three quicks, and it may not be long before the talismanic Williamson racks the bat for good. A new generation is emerging. They must be nurtured by a coach who understands both what he is inheriting and how to grow its collective value.
New Zealand Cricket has seen the value in soft power, and has given the job to someone who — like his predecessor — knows how to use it.
