NZ coach Gary Stead refutes allegations that he wanted Kane Williamson removed from Test captaincy

Stead said that he and Williamson were "philosophically different".

New Zealand did not have a good time in Australia, where they lost the three-match Test series 0-3 under the captaincy of Kane Williamson and rumors started floating that coach Gary Stead wanted Kane Williamson removed from captaincy and have Tom Latham take over.

In May, the country's Cricket Board had rubbished the claims that Williamson's Test captaincy was under threat. Now Stead himself has called the allegations baseless, saying "there is no truth" in them and his relationship with the skipper remains "strong".

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"There's no truth to it...that was certainly news to me...certainly had no conversations around that sort of thing. At this stage, Kane's our man. He's the guy we've backed, he's been a great leader for this team and I'm sure he will be in the future as well,” Stead was quoted as saying by 'Newshub'.

Asked about his relationship with Williamson, Stead said: "I think it's very good. I think it's strong. I like him as a bloke, like what he stands for. He's a very values-based person and he adds a hell of a lot to the team."

He did concede that he and Williamson are "philosophically different".

"I think I probably have philosophical differences with every single person in the team at different times, and that's just about me being a human being and him being a human being," he said.

(PTI inputs)