Wellington, June 6 (UNI) New Zealand Cricket have confirmed the appointment of Rob Walter as men's national team head coach, following the departure of Gary Stead.

Taking over from mid-June, Walter's first assignment will be a tour to Zimbabwe in July, with his contract running until the end of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in New Zealand and Australia in

late 2028.

Walter comes in having overseen the South African white-ball teams until April this year, stepping down after the Proteas' ICC Champions Trophy campaign.

During his tenure, the Proteas made history by reaching their first-ever ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final in 2024, where they finished as runners-up to India in Barbados, following an impressive eight-match winning streak.

He also guided the 50-over team to the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India,

an ICC report said.

"The Black Caps have been a successful and highly-regarded team on the world scene for some time now and it's a real privilege to be given the chance to add to that," Walter said upon his announcement.

"It's an amazing opportunity to work with such a talented group of players and support staff through

a period of time in which so many global events, as well as massive bilateral series, will be contested," he said.

"I just can't wait to get started. It's exciting, it's challenging, and the opportunity is enormous for everyone," Walter added.

The news follows confirmation of Stead's exit on Thursday, when New Zealand Cricket ruled the 53-year-old out of contention for a Test-only role, and a move to employ one head coach across all three formats.

The coach enjoyed a prolific seven years in the role, with the team claiming an ICC World Test Championship victory in 2021, with the team topping the Test Rankings, and claiming a momentous 3-0 Test series sweep of India away from home last year.

UNI BM