Mediation called for in New Zealand's cricket pay dispute

Two or three hours of unresolved discussion on the remuneration issue separating the parties in the New Zealand cricket pay dispute has resulted in a mediator being called in tomorrow.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Martin Snedden said the terms of the player response to NZC's offer were confidential but he said it was clear after discussions today that no progress was being made.

It was mutually agreed that a mediator should be brought in tomorrow to assist in breaking the deadlock that has paralysed the upper echelons in the game for the month of October.

Tomorrow is the last scheduled day of the players' withdrawal from contact with NZC and the Major Associations.

Snedden said a mediator had no power to make a decision in the dispute unless both parties agreed, and that was not the case at the moment, he said.

The mediator will be from the Department of Labour.

"We just want to try and find a resolution, we are so far apart and it is a difficult issue to resolve so we will go through the process tomorrow and see if we can reach a resolution finally," he said.