South African spinner Johan Botha will continue to work on his bowling action after the International Cricket Council said he is still bending his arm beyond the stipulated 15 degrees.

Botha had been working on his action since he was reported for suspect action in his debut Test against Australia in Sydney this January.

The ICC had examined his revised action in August and it was hoped that he would soon return to international cricket. But further tests done towards the end of August confirmed that he continued to bend his arm more than 15 degrees.

"We are very disappointed and will do everything possible to get Johan back in action as soon as possible," Brian Basson, Cricket South Africa's general manager, was reported as saying by the Supercricket website.

"It's not good for cricket or the psychological welfare of the player to draw out the episode."

Botha had started out as a medium pacer but switched to spin on the advice of coach Mickey Arthur. He last played international cricket in the VB tri-series against Sri Lanka at Hobart in February.