It is ?unlikely? Bermuda will have the facilities to host One-Day Internationals before the cricket World Cup next year, Sports Minister Dale Butler admitted yesterday.

Since the national team?s qualification for cricket?s ultimate limited over showpiece, Bermuda Cricket Board have made no secret of their desire to play as many official ODIs and first class games on local soil as possible.

Butler?s view will disappoint the BCB, whose attempts to prepare the team for the awesome challenges of the next 15 months will be hampered by the lack of first-class facilities on the Island.

Along with Ireland, Scotland, Canada and Holland, Bermuda were given ODI status by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as a result of reaching the World Cup finals, while the national team have already played a reasonable amount of first class cricket in the Intercontinental Cup.

As it stands, neither the National Sports Centre nor any of the Island?s premier club grounds meet the requisite standard set by the ICC for ODIs, with Butler confirming yesterday that those standards will ?probably? not be realised for another two years, when the NSC?s centre core is nearing completion.

?It seems as if we will not be able to host One-Day Internationals before the World Cup next year ? but I am not saying it is impossible at this stage,? said Butler.

?But it is, after all, only next year and it would be unlikely that we could have the facilities in place before then because of the size of the centre core project itself. But the Trustees are aware of the situation and will do all that they can to assist the cricket Board in their objectives.?

The NSC?s North Field is the only ground in Bermuda big enough to host ODIs, but is unlikely to qualify because of the size of the pavilion, the quality of the pitches and other deficiencies in its infrastructure.

It is also not clear whether Bermuda will be permitted to host any more Intercontinental Cup games in the future, particularly if the pitches are not improved dramatically.

Butler added, however, that the Trustees were working hard to ensure that the square on the North Field was of a good enough standard to host international games in the near future.

Seven different soil samples from across the Island have been sent abroad for testing to establish whether they are good enough to play cricket on and Butler said a report was expected back towards the end of next week.

When the square will be ready for international cricket is not yet known.

The NSC?s pitches have been plagued by controversy since they were first laid and it is now an accepted fact that they were never of a high enough standard to host top-quality cricket.

Meanwhile, BCB chief executive Neil Speight would only say yesterday that he is making every effort to work with the Trustees to bring the NSC up to standard as soon as possible.

?We obviously need an ICC accredited ground on which to play ODIs and we have shared all the relevant information on how this must be done with the trustees and the Minister,? he said.

?We know they are working hard to get the centre core completed and the square re-laid and in the meantime we will have to play international games at other club grounds if the NSC is not fit. This is not ideal obviously because none of those games would be official ODI?s and it would be easier attracting bigger teams to Bermuda if they were.?