The pay dispute between New Zealand's cricketers and their officials ended with a settlement between the New Zealand cricket board (NZC) and the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association (NZCPA), brokered after Stephen Fleming and Chris Cairns stepped in to negotiate on behalf of the players. Fleming and Cairns took over from Rob Nichol, the players' representative whose confrontational style was believed to have further precipitated the crisis. The stakes in the six-month stalemate were raised last week when talks between the two parties broke down, and with the players already threatening to strike, New Zealand's domestic programme was set to be decimated. There had also been talk of a greatly weakened Test side taking the field against India in December had the matter not been resolved.

NZC had offered a players' pool payment of $NZ5m (£1.7m) for each of the next four years but this had been rejected by the 128-member NZCPA. Under the terms of the new deal this sum was increased this by $NZ100,000 (£33,000) and a new four-year contract system for the players was implemented.

"The extra money and a little bit of tweaking to our final offer has led to today's agreement," explained Martin Snedden, chief executive of NZC. "I am confident we will now have a good working relationship with our cricketers and I am looking forward to the coming domestic season and the visit of India."

Cairns said that a strike was the last thing the players wanted. "Once the bargaining process was stalled, there was a feeling in all of our hearts we wanted a resolution." The willingness of the players to negotiate might have been helped by the lack of support they received in the local media. Public opinion was firmly behind NZC's refusal to bow down to the players' demands. The New Zealand Herald said in an editorial comment that the forthcoming series against India should be cancelled if a deal wasn't reached soon. It also questioned the claims of the cricketers for more money.

To make matters worse, there were reports that the top New Zealand cricketers were bullying the younger players to join the strike. Russell Hock, Canterbury's wicketkeeper and the only first-class player to break ranks with the players' union, told the Herald newspaper that he was sickened by the cash wrangle. "I had a young guy ring me up the other day in tears," Hock told the paper. "It was bloody wrong. If they're having a crack at anyone, why don't they have a crack at me? These guys had been his heroes, but now they were simply bullying and intimidating him, letting him know what would happen if he folded."

Hock said he had decided to break ranks with the striking players out of his love for the game. "Why have I done what I've done? Because I love the game and I'd piss blood to play for Canterbury."

In the end it seems that without the support of the public and with their own membership beginning to break ranks, the players decided to accept what they had already gained rather than pursue a potentially crippling strike.

The New Zealand domestic season will get underway a week later than scheduled, on November 23.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd