The Bermuda Cricket Board have approved a plan to expand the Premier Division to eight teams next season.

A suggestion from a working party, formed to look at restructuring the game on the Island, that two teams be promoted from the First Division, and just one be relegated from the top flight, has been ratified by the governing body's executive committee.

In essence that means that Devonshire Rec, Somerset or Willow Cuts have been handed a get out of jail free card, with the bottom three now battling to avoid finishing bottom, rather than in the bottom two.

For First Division leaders St George's, that guarantees they will be playing Premier Division cricket next season, and also means that Flatts and Western Stars, who are level on points, have something still to play for.

"The Executive Committee has considered a recommendation from the Cricket Committee for the 2010 season regarding relegation and promotion," said a BCB statement. "It was ratified that the top two teams in the First Division will be promoted and one team from the Premier Division will be relegated leaving eight teams in that division."

That would mean that the First Division would be reduced to just six teams. However, Leg Trappers and Police, who have both sat out this year, could return to create two tiers of eight teams.

Having solved the problem of promotion and relegation, the working party are now expected to turn their attentions to questions such as the return of Open Cricket, whether the leagues should be sponsored, and what to do about the poor discipline that still blights the game.