Stead stresses on the importance of 'mental break' ahead of long home season

New Zealand have just completed their Sri Lanka tour, returning with a 2-1 T20I series win, after the two-Test series ended at 1-1, giving them 60 points each on the ICC Test Championship table. They now have nearly a two-month-long break before they host England and India, and play Australia [home and away] across five months of action, beginning with the first T20I against England on 1 November in Christchurch.

Playing their second consecutive World Cup final, on July 14 at Lord's, the Kane Williamson-led side had gone down to hosts England in an epic encounter, where they lost on boundary count, after the contest had ended in a tie in both the allotted 100 overs and the Super Over.

With memories from that emotionally sapping day still fresh, Stead called for a sound mental break, before the team returns for the home season grind.

"The World Cup took a lot out of everyone, mentally more so than physically, then you're away for another 5-6 weeks at the start of the Test Championship," he said. "Whilst that brought a new focus, it doesn't necessarily take away the feeling of tiredness and being on the road. It's important that the guys mentally have a break and get ready for a massive summer."

After hosting England, New Zealand are scheduled to tour Australia for three Tests, the first of which will be played in Perth from 12 December, followed by the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and the New Year's Test in Sydney. They will then host India for five T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests, after which they play their trans-Tasman rivals in three ODIs and as many T20Is away and at home respectively.

After emerging victorious from a tightly-contested T20I series win against Sri Lanka, in the absence of regular skipper Kane Williamson and pace spearhead Trent Boult, both of whom had been rested, Stead expressed satisfaction with the overall result.

"We learned a lot. It was important for us to see different guys in situations," he said. "We had a number of injuries, which was a challenge, and we had some tight results. All three could have gone either way, and it was good to be on the right side of two of them."

The 47-year old also heaped praise on stand-in captain Tim Southee, and all-rounders Colin de Grandhomme and Mitchell Santner, for their match-winning contributions.

"Tim [Southee] and Mitch [Santner] were outstanding with the ball, they were the rocks we could build our game-plan around. Colin [de Grandhomme] batted beautifully and showed a different side of his game, not necessarily power, but also the ability to work the ball around. He was involved in a couple of key partnerships.

"Santner bowled really well over a long period of time. And with his batting, he finished two games in two or three balls, and managed to hit them out of the park. He's done that in the IPL as well, and I think he's really learning to play that finishing role."