KEY POINTS:
Shane Bond and New Zealand Cricket (NZC) are one step away from heading to court as a mediator has stepped in to help resolve the fast bowler's dispute with the national body.
Bond desperately wants to play in the England series but is being told he can't unless he reneges on his deal with the 'rebel' Indian Cricket League.
NZC is now embroiled in an increasingly fraught stand-off with its best player and the dispute over Bond's dual contracts have now been put into the hands of lawyers.
Talks with the fast bowler began close to a fortnight ago as an 11th-hour effort was made by NZC to extract Bond from his three-year, $3.1 million contract with the Indian Cricket League. No satisfactory agreement was reached and a mediator has been called in to try to prevent the dispute reaching the Employment Relations Authority.
At the heart of the matter is whether Bond has breached his contract with NZC after signing with the ICL. Bond is the top-ranked New Zealand cricketer and is on a retainer of more than $120,000 through to June 1.
As was revealed here two weeks ago, the dispute is further confused by the fact NZC cleared him to sign with the ICL, almost certainly in written form, which, employment law specialist and Buddle Findlay partner Hamish Kynaston explained, could be construed as a legally binding document.
When contacted recently Bond said he had "agreements" in place with NZC that meant he could not discuss the situation and that has not changed in the interim. Yesterday he confirmed that those agreements were still intact and he would not comment.
This newspaper also contacted New Zealand Cricket, the Players' Association and Andrew Scott-Howman, an employment lawyer who specialises in sports contracts and who is understood to be directly involved in this case. None of them were able to comment on either the broad process or the minutiae of the dispute.
However, a source told this newspaper that big hitter Sir John Anderson was involved, at least initially as NZC tried to push the line that there is a general playing condition, rather than a specific contract clause, that precludes Bond from playing for New Zealand and in a competition that is not sanctioned.
Bond wants to do both.
With the matter now before mediation, Kynaston said there was several potential outcomes.
"The whole process is geared up for the parties to work out something confidentially and to reach an agreement.
"Generally speaking, if they reach a mediated agreement that concludes any potential further claim, though there are always exceptions to this," Kynaston said.
Mediation is usually set against a legal backdrop - so if they fail to reach agreement, a claim in the employment court invariably follows. Both sides, however, are desperate to avoid that and have outwardly remained confident of finding compromise.
That confidence is now believed to be ebbing.
