Back to the drawing-board for India and Pakistan

India and Pakistan are no closer to resuming cricket ties, according to an Indian news agency, after negotiations between the two countries stalled.

Both sides have shown a recent willingness to get out of the boardroom and onto the cricket field, and tentative tour plans had even been discussed, with one-day internationals in each country in September, followed by a full series in Pakistan in February 2004. But for the time being, it's back to the drawing-board.

"After those few days of excitement, there is a general despondency in the two camps as we seem to be heading nowhere," an unnamed cricket official was quoted as saying. "At the moment, I doubt if we could have any cricket between the two countries in September. But we cannot afford to be lax and want to keep everything in place should we get positive signals from the government."

The Pakistan Cricket Board is particularly eager to resume ties. It is suffering a financial squeeze from cancelled tours and needs to play as much cricket as reasonably possible.