PERTH, Jan 31: Zimbabwe need more time before they can hope to return to the Test fold, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Saturday.

The troubled African team were withdrawn from Tests by the national board in January 2006 after being left depleted by confrontations between senior players and the administration.

An ICC task force formed to help them return to Test cricket travelled to Zimbabwe last November. It submitted an interim report to the ICC Board which began a two-day meeting here on Saturday.

“Pending submission of that final report [in April], the Board was told none of the stakeholders spoken to during the visit were of the view that Zimbabwe was ready to return to Test cricket, with timeframes proposed ranging from six months to two years or more,” an ICC statement said.

Zimbabwe cricket has lurched from one crisis to another in the last few years.

The task force was appointed last July when Zimbabwe agreed to skip this year’s Twenty20 World Championship in England to end a deadlock over demands for its suspension from international cricket because of Robert Mugabe’s government.

Indian and South African cricket boards have offered playing and administrative support respectively to help Zimbabwe.

The meeting also deferred an application by the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) seeking approval. At present, players joining the Twenty20 league face automatic ban from all forms of official cricket.—Reuters