Zimbabwe could return to Test cricket in six months, International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed said on Tuesday.
"Ultimately it will be a decision of the ICC board but there will be an evaluation first," Speed told a media conference in Harare when he asked when Zimbabwe might resume playing Test matches.
Speed added that Zimbabwe could return in six, 12 or 18 months.
The Zimbabwe government took control of cricket in January and one of the first decisions taken was to withdraw the national team from the Test arena.
The chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), Peter Chingoka, was non-committal when asked when Zimbabwe might play their next Test.
"We are still aiming at next year. We don't have an exact date yet," Chingoka told the media conference.
"We have a young team and we still need to play some more three and four-day cricket.
"We have a development programme that we are pursuing, and we are planning more of these games...to build the team and to raise our game."
Zimbabwe have been forced to select an inexperienced team since April 2004, when most of their experienced players quit the game or opted to further their careers in other countries after a dispute with the board that followed Heath Streak's axing as captain.
Zimbabwe have lost nine of their last 10 Tests, seven of them by an innings.
They last won a one-day international against a major cricket nation when they beat the West Indies by 21 runs in Harare in November 2003.
Chingoka said no players had been ruled out of selection.
"From where I sit, any player who is available is free to come and join the team," he said.
Speed and ICC president Percy Sonn are on a fact-finding trip to Zimbabwe which they undertook at the invitation of ZC.
CRICKET FAMILY
Sonn emphasised that Zimbabwe, and by definition ZC, remained part of the global cricket family.
"We support Zimbabwe's development programme, and the need to play more three and four-day cricket," Sonn said.
"Zimbabwe requested to have time to put its house in order, to get to the level they believe they can play.
"This a brief interruption. They remain a full test cricket nation."
Allegations of mismanagement have been levelled at senior administrators and Speed said: "It's apparent that Zimbabwean cricket is going through a very difficult time.
"That is why we are here: to meet with the interim board and others to listen to their plans for Zimbabwean cricket in the next few years."
He downplayed the significance of the fact that, in the terms of a new draft constitution for ZC, the government will have the power to appoint seven members of the ZC board.
Zimbabwe are still playing one-day internationals and they will play Bangladesh in the third game of a five-match series in Harare on Wednesday. The series is level at 1-1.
(Writing by Telford Vice in Durban)
