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The brinkmanship of the England players over the terms of their World Cup contracts appears to be nearing its end.

A meeting yesterday at Lord's between Angus Fraser and Neil Fairbrother, representing the England party of 15, and the England and Wales Cricket Board's chief executive, Tim Lamb, seems to have cleared the air and a spokesman for the board said he was confident the players would sign before next Monday's deadline.

What Lamb called ``housekeeping matters'' were discussed yesterday, as well as the financial terms, which now seem to have been resolved to the players' satisfaction.

They were originally offended in some cases by the officious-sounding nature of some of the terms in the contracts, particularly where they restricted the freedom of movement on days off during the tournament and regulations affecting wives and families. The board spokesman said that there would be no unreasonable restrictions.

If England win the World Cup each player will earn an estimated £60,000, more than the two favourites, the Australians and the South Africans. The redistributed offer from the board is believed to be a basic fee of £12,000 but the players will continue to receive their county salaries, reckoned to be about £15,000 for the minimum of five weeks for which they will be together. Their counties will be compensated by the board, who expect a profit of £30 million from the tournament.

South Africa have barred Richard Pybus from joining Pakistan's World Cup squad because of fears that he may disclose playing secrets. Pybus coaches in South Africa each year.