Easily the most severe industrial crisis to hit New Zealand sport has resulted from the stalemate reached today in the pay dispute between New Zealand Cricket and the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Martin Snedden admitted tonight that the last scheduled negotiations today had been unsuccessful and that even with the assistance of a mediator the sides had not been able to move any further ahead.

"It is now time to reflect and I will talk with our bargaining team about where we go from here.

"There are various options available to us that we will have to consider," Snedden said.

Any further negotiations have been left unscheduled.

When starting their action the Players' Association withdrew the services of the players for the month of October.

There has been no indication from the Association about what further action may be taken although they had said they will be on strike until further notice.

They had told the NZC team that they will give them an update of their position after the weekend.

However, it does seem more likely that the scheduled opening event of the New Zealand summer, the now annual State Max weekend, scheduled for November 16-17, will be in jeopardy.

The first game in the four-day State Championship is scheduled to start the next weekend at Wanganui between Central Districts and Otago.

A full round of games is scheduled for the following weekend while the Indian tour of New Zealand is scheduled to open with a Super Max game at Jade Stadium on December 4.

© CricInfo