An International Cricket Council (ICC) hearing into player allegations of racism against the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) has been scrapped.
South African high court judge Steven Majiedt, on the ICC panel, blamed "the inflexible attitudes of both parties" and told reporters written submissions would be used instead of compiling a report.
The allegations followed the departure of Heath Streak as Zimbabwe captain after he had questioned the composition of the national selection panel. His replacement by Tatenda Taibu led to a walkout by 15 white players.
"It is a sad day, but it is not the end. They have been some positive strides," Streak told Reuters on Thursday.
"This process is part of a bigger process to highlight what has gone wrong, and to make sure that the future is one in which people are comfortable irrespective of who they are, where they come from and what colour they are."
The in-camera hearing, scheduled to last three days, began on Wednesday but was adjourned shortly after the first witness testified.
The panel had ruled in favour of an application by lawyer Chris Venturas, representing the players, that three administrators should not be present to hear testimony.
Venturas argued that witnesses would be intimidated by the presence of ZCU board members Ozias Bvute and Max Ebrahim and chairman of the provincial Mashonaland Cricket Association Tavengwa Mkuhlani, since some of the allegations involved them.
The ICC panel, comprising Majiedt and India's solicitor general Goolam Vahanvati, granted the application but the ZCU refused to accept the decision.
The two sides had been expected to try to find a compromise overnight but failed to meet.
The affair was sparked by Streak's departure and the players' rebellion. They demanded his reinstatement, a new selection panel and a ZCU climbdown.
The ZCU, who advocate a policy of positive discrimination in selection to reflect the make-up of Zimbabwe's population, responded by selecting an inexperienced team which lost 10 consecutive matches before the ICC suspended their Test programme until the end of the year.
Venturas said the panel, selected by the sport's world governing body, was scheduled to release its findings on October 15.
Asked what the future held for Zimbabwe cricket, he added: "Very much in the air. We were very, very confident that our position would be vindicated by this process. We are very unsure now.
"But we have confidence in the panel, and I believe the panel has enough evidence on hand to make some sort of finding."
