The chances of Bermuda ever playing at a cricket World Cup again have been slashed to almost zero by the ICC.

At a board meeting in Dubai yesterday, which was attended by Bermuda Cricket Board chief executive Neil Speight, the game's governing body cut the number of teams that will play in the 50 over event from 14 to just ten.

And while top Associate countries such as Ireland and Kenya may make fleeting appearances in the competition, the only way that would happen would be if there was a global qualifying –tournament.

However, given that from next May, when Zimbabwe regain their Test status, there will be ten Test nations, the chances of any Associate nation being involved looks slim.

Other decisions that were made yesterday include expanding the Twenty20 World Cup from 12 to 16 teams, the creation of a Test League, which will start next year and see a champion crowned in 2013, and a One Day International League, which will run from April 2011 until April 2014, culminating in the crowning of an ODI league champion.

The changes came as part of a wholesale restructuring of international cricket that has seen the Test playing nations ring-fence the Future Tour Programme for themselves while also taking 75 percent of any ICC broadcast revenue.

According to the ICC the driving force behind the Test League was giving the matches context.

"Restructuring international cricket is a significant strategic challenge and one that must be dealt with. We have now agreed in principle to exciting and far-reaching proposals to tackle this most important issue," said Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive.

"Achieving balance and unanimous agreement is not easy but we have responded well to a strategic priority to restructure international cricket.

"The proposals, especially introducing more meaningful context, means we now have the potential to follow international cricket that is even more exciting."

In reality that seems to suggest that the Associate countries have been cut off from the rest of the game, Twenty20 aside, and will have to make do with what trickles down to them from above.

What the immediate implications for Bermuda are is anyone's guess, but it does raise some important questions about the Division Two qualifiers scheduled for April in Dubai, the Under-19s World Cup qualifiers early next year, and the structure of the domestic game on the Island.

If there is to be no realistic chance of qualifying for a 50 over World Cup, why play that version of the game at all? Surely it would be better to pump all the resources into chasing a spot at the Twenty20 version.

If the senior team are concentrating on Twenty20 cricket, why spend money on sending the under-19 side to regional World Cup qualifiers when they won't be playing the game at the next level?

What of the proposed changes to Bermuda's domestic game, and a 50 over Elite League? It might make more sense to have a Twenty20 Elite League.

Of course, all these questions would be easily answered if the ICC had made their intentions clear for the Associate game at the same time as they rolled out their vision for the top level. Unfortunately they have yet to do that.

And what isn't clear is what Associate cricket's new role within the game's global structure might be.

It's possible that Divisions One and Two of Associate cricket could be combined to make second tiers of the Test and ODI competitions. That would at least give 'context' to games at the Associate level, which otherwise would risk becoming a circus.

Hopefully all these questions will be answered sooner rather than later. Until then Bermuda will remain in the limbo they suddenly find themselves plunged into.