Latham has been the regular stand-in when Williamson has been absent in recent years and was in charge for both legs in Pakistan where the T20Is were shared 2-2 and the home side claimed the ODIs 4-1.

Southee, who is New Zealand's Test captain, was one of the players unavailable for that tour due to involvement in the IPL.

"Every opportunity Daryl gets in a number of different positions he keeps putting his hand up. He's shown his value to the team overall," Stead told reporters in Auckland. "[Will's] had a really good start to his international career, especially the white-ball game, and he's had some of the Associate teams where he's scored big runs but it was really pleasing to see how he went against what is a real quality attack when you think of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan."

Stead indicated that it remained the case that "11 or 12" of the World Cup squad were likely locked in with those remaining positions still requiring some discussion. The schedule for the tournament is yet to be confirmed - and will likely only come out after the IPL - with Stead adding that where they play certain teams may have a bearing on the final selections. He was hopeful that Kyle Jamieson, who is recovering from back surgery, will be in the frame.

"We've got three months before we need to land this so have time on our side," he said. "We still haven't got a World Cup draw yet, we don't know where we are playing so it's pretty hard to nail everything down until we get those things in place."

Stead's own contract is also up after the World Cup and a decision on his future is likely to be made before the tournament.

New Zealand now have a lengthy break from international cricket before next coming together for a three-match T20I series against UAE in Dubai in August.