Bermuda Cricket Board will continue with their plans for the national team, and the restructuring of the domestic game, despite the International Cricket Council's decision to reduce the World Cup to just 10 teams.

While the restructuring of the international game, which includes a Test League and ODI League, has effectively ended the Island's hopes of repeating their 2007 World Cup appearance in the near future, the increase in the number of spots in the Twenty20 version means the opportunity to play at the highest level still partly exists.

And with the ICC insisting that very little has actually changed at the Associate level, the Board are keen to ensure that players don't walk away from playing for their country.

There are also no guarantees that the ICC, having made changes to the World Cup format several times already, won't perform a U-turn in the future. Because of this, the Board want Bermuda to be in the best possible shape to take advantage should that happen.

Practically, there are also funding considerations for the Board to take into account, with the High Performance Programme still the main source of financial assistance for Bermuda cricket.

So, despite the belief in some quarters that the Division Two tournament in Dubai next April is meaningless, its importance, as far as Bermuda's standing in the Intercontinental Shield and Intercontinental Cup are concerned, remains. And preparing for that is still to be the main focus for David Moore's team.

"The ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament in April is far from meaningless," said James Fitzgerald, ICC's media and communications manager. "We are still expecting there to be a qualification process for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 so the current pathway structure still applies. There will just be fewer places up for grabs.

"And, as an event in itself, it is a rewarding way for teams to test themselves against similarly ranked opponents from wherever they come around the world."

In the immediate aftermath of the ICC's decision several nations openly questioned the point of continuing to play four-day or 50 over cricket. However, as Associate members have retained an outside chance of qualifying for the 2015 World Cup and beyond, there is still a need to play those versions of the game.

"The decision by the Members of the ICC to reduce the number of teams that will participate in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 must be viewed in the overall restructuring of international cricket," said Fitzgerald.

"At this stage in the development of the global game, Twenty20 is probably the format of the game where Associates can best compete with the Full Members. That is why there will be four more teams in that event, a decision that has been universally welcomed by the Associate and Affiliate Members.

"Whereas the 16-team WT20 will provide greater opportunities for developing countries, the CWC will be promoted as the flagship of the 50-over format and limited to the top 10 teams whoever they may be.

"Although the qualification structure for the 2015 event has yet to be finalised, it is likely that the top Associates will still have a chance to make it to the finals if they are good enough to do so. These decisions will provide better quality events leading to greater value to the benefit of all Members."

With that in mind, the Board is preparing to push ahead with the proposed 50-over Elite League which will begin next summer. However, with the ICC seemingly pushing the Associate nations more towards Twenty20 cricket, there is likely to be greater emphasis on that competition on the Island than there has been in recent years.

Instead of it being squeezed in at the end of a domestic season which has normally long since lost its interest, the Elite League teams are likely to begin playing Twenty20 cricket much earlier, and along the same lines as the All-Star matches earlier this month.