London: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has ruled out stripping minnows Bangladesh of their Test status, saying it was looking at ways to assist non-performing countries to improve their playing standards.

“Clearly, the ICC does not wish to see gaps in standards resulting in mismatches on the field, but it also does not believe that punishing teams for performing poorly provides the necessary incentive to allow them to improve”, ICC president Ehsan Mani told reporters after the ICC Cricket Business Forum meeting.

It may be recalled that former Australian great Richie Benaud, leg-spin ace Shane Warne and former Pakistan captain and coach Javed Miandad had called for Bangladesh to be suspended from Tests, following their abject manner of defeats in England.

The following are other decisions/developments, announced by Mani:

Slovenia, Mali and the English Channel islands of Jersey and Guernsey have been granted affiliate membership of the International Cricket Council, the start of a journey that could one day pit them against the world's best.

The four will join nations like Iran and Panama who can compete in ICC regional development games and potentially qualify for the World Cup.

The ICC also elevated Botswana, Japan, Kuwait, Belgium and Thailand to associate member status, putting them on a par with Scotland and a notch down from full members such as Australia.

The leading lower-tier sides compete for the ICC Trophy in Ireland next month with the five best teams from that competition qualifying for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

The ICC has 54 affiliate, 32 associate and 10 full members.

On the new rules introduced in one-day International matches, Mani said “we will try it over the next 10 months and if it is good we will introduce it regularly and if it damages the game, then we will not.

“The new rules will be tried in the India-Sri Lanka-West Indies triangular series,” Mani further informed.

Asked whether there would be changes in the rules for Tests as well, the ICC president said: “At this juncture there is no plan to make any radical change in Test cricket.”

Mani announced the decision to formally integrate operations of ICC and the International Women’s Cricket Council (IWCC) to create a single international governing body for the sport. “This is an historic move and the willingness of both the ICC and the IWCC to work together towards a common goal is, in my view, an excellent example of what good governance is able to achieve,” he said.

Mani said that the ICC board is examining in detail the option of changing the current five year future tours programme to a longer one. “Such a change, if adopted, would ease the playing commitments on all nations, allowing them to choose how they wish to address the key issues that confront them,” he said.