The Zimbabwe government took control of the governing body on 6 January, sparking fears for the game.

Zimbabwe Cricket said it had decided to suspend playing in Tests "after considering recent performances", but the nation will still play one-dayers.

"ZC is now putting in place a programme to galvanise the development of the Zimbabwe squads," added the statement.

"It will work with other Test nations and the International Cricket Council itself to realise this objective."

Zimbabwe are next in action in West Indies in April, when they now expect to play a one-day series.

They were due to host South Africa in August before touring Pakistan.

The decision to take time away from the Test arena was taken at a meeting of the interim board in Harare.

It comes a week after Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Peter Chingoka discussed the issue with his international counterparts at an International Cricket Council meeting.

Zimbabwe's cricketers have been in dispute with the governing body since November.

But they had recently put strike action on hold until 31 January in the wake of the government taking charge.

The players accepted assurances that their contractual grievances would be addressed.

But their representative, Clive Field, said at the time that he was pessimistic about the issue being settled by the deadline.

The dispute began when Tatenda Taibu resigned as Zimbabwe captain and announced his retirement from international cricket in protest at the way the game was being run.

Chingoka and managing director Ozias Bvute were subsequently questioned by police as part of a fraud investigation.

And police also interviewed players Vusi Sibanda and Waddington Mwayenga about alleged breaches of the country's foreign exchange laws.