From Canterbury to Andhra: Gary Stead and Justin Paul reconnect after 34 years
In Hyderabad on November 13, 2026, Gary Stead, the Ranji Trophy head coach of Andhra, and his former New Zealand under-19 teammate Justin Paul reunited in India as Paul followed Stead’s work and documented his stint with the domestic side.
Earlier this week in Lincoln, Cameron Paul ran in for New Zealand A against India A in the third unofficial Test and claimed his first wicket for the side when Dhruv Jurel holed out to Alex Stead; Alex was only a substitute fielder. More than 11,000 kilometres from Lincoln, the two men who stood arm in arm in the New Zealand U-19 side that toured India 34 years ago were back in the same country: Justin Paul and Gary Stead had been team-mates alongside Stephen Fleming, the Hart brothers (Matthew and Robbie), Heath Davis and Geoff Wilson, and had faced an Indian side led by Rahul Dravid. Their careers soon diverged — Gary went on to play for the senior side and later coached the Black Caps and the White Ferns, while Justin left cricket to pursue a life in education.
Justin’s decision to travel to India was shaped over the winter and accelerated by a change in his circumstances. “I told Gary that he has a great story, the transition from Black Caps to Ranji Trophy. I told him that I will come and write about it. I really didn’t think anything would happen from there,” Justin told The Hindu. He said he was made redundant, received a media travel grant from the Asia New Zealand Foundation and travelled after a free trade agreement between the two countries had been signed only a week earlier. “I was very lucky that the stars aligned. People wanted to hear about New Zealand-India relations. And I think it was a unique story, in that you’ve got India touring New Zealand, but here you have Gary, a New Zealander, at the domestic level challenging himself in a different environment.”
Their relationship dates back to Canterbury and New Zealand age-group cricket, during which Justin moved two hours to turn out for Gary’s club in Christchurch. The pair tell the origin of that move differently. “We met each other when we were 16. He will tell the story that he got me out stumped. I was an opening batsman at the time and I batted like a limpet, so I can’t imagine that I left the crease. I think he’s lying. But he hit me for six, which is far more believable,” Justin quipped.
Recalling the 1992 tour, Justin said he initially had no idea where Andhra was until Visakhapatnam came up as the opening stop of that trip. He reflected on playing conditions in India: “A lot of our fastest bowlers were nullified by the conditions and our ability to play spin was not the equal of our Indian counterparts. As a spin bowler, I bowled quite a few overs in that series and really enjoyed it because I was given more bowling than I normally get in New Zealand.” He added a tactical preference: “What I’d really like to see is people playing off the back foot. It’s too easy for a batsman just to sit on the front foot. You’re only tested at one pace. I’d like to see. I’m a purist. I like a fast bowler from one end and a spinner at the other. Just test the batsman a little bit more.” He also remembered that much of the touring party fell ill on that trip.
Watching Ranji Trophy cricket for the first time, Justin noted a role reversal from New Zealand domestic cricket: spinners often lead attacks. He pointed to Andhra’s game against Chhattisgarh in which the lone Andhra seamer bowled just one over with the new ball, and it came in the 77th over of the innings. He described the fan environment at Mulapadu, a village on the highway between Vijayawada and Hyderabad, where “about 200 people” attended. “It was quite surreal. We’re just not used to that! If Kane Williamson, for instance, was driving in New Zealand or walked onto the ground, someone might lift their eyebrow at him and that might be about it. But gosh, K.L. Rahul really had it the whole game. There were probably only 200 people there but they sounded like 10 times that many. And if he got some runs, I think people would have exploded.”
Off-field incidents provided some of Paul’s most vivid moments: a torn sight screen during the Andhra–Chhattisgarh match that he called “more interesting than the day’s cricket,” and a decision to leave for Chandigarh after writing off the game as “flat-lined,” which backfired when Chhattisgarh staged a late fightback to seal the win in the closing hours of the final day. He also recounted a solo visit to a riverbank during Dussehra to watch a deity’s boat procession: “I took every wrong turn I could. I was in the wrong queues, slick with sweat. But I felt fully alive!”
Paul emphasised that their bond extends beyond the game and that he prepares for encounters with Stead with personal questions as well as cricket ones. “We are friends beyond that. I would want to talk about him and his family and how he was. Not necessarily about how Kane Williamson is. “I’m super proud of my friend and how he’s gone, winning the World Test Championship and having lost that World Cup final with the Ben Stokes bat incident and what have you. That was horrendous for New Zealanders. And then his 3-0 win in India. That for me is probably the most amazing achievement of any of the teams that he has been involved with. We were all just blown away by that.”
On the challenge of coaching in India, Paul said Gary is still learning. Andhra had six coaches in six years before Gary arrived and lacked a clear view of its best players; according to Paul, Gary set about identifying those players, giving them extended runs and making them feel secure. Paul observed a culture of care around players, and said Gary also works in high performance and coach education to create structures that will last beyond his tenure. “I enjoy the cricket, don’t get me wrong. But I am fascinated by all the things around it. The dynamics of the team. How does a New Zealander come into Andhra Pradesh and pull them together as a team? Or help improve some of their young talent like Sheikh Rashid and S.V. Rahul. In India, everything’s turned up to 12. And especially if you are a New Zealander, where things are quiet and a little bit sleepy. The colour, the noise… It’s just bursting with life.”
Every tour leaves something behind: a scorecard, a scar, a friend. In 1992, two teenagers left India with all three. Their friendship has merely changed its setting: one now stands with a whiteboard and the other with a notebook, while India, turned up to 12, hums around them both.