Sweeping changes to the governance of world cricket have been approved at a meeting of the International Cricket Council board, after eight of the 10 Test nations voted for proposals that put India, England and Australia in control of the world game and with it most of the money.

The 16-man board first discussed the controversial measures, which seek to overhaul "the governance, competition and financial models" of the ICC in Dubai on January 28, but voting on proposals was deferred until Saturday's follow-up meeting in Singapore.

The recommendations, which began life in a widely-leaked "position paper" drafted by the so-called "big three", were then passed with the required majority. Pakistan and Sri Lanka chose to abstain as the remaining eight full members voted in favour.

The Indian, English and Australian boards have been guaranteed three of the five seats on a new executive committee that will carry considerable influence, and three of the five on a revamped financial sub-committee. The sense of an executive stranglehold by the boards who helped author these changes is emphasised by the fact that the BCCI president, N Srinivasan, will become the new chair of the ICC board, with Cricket Australia's Wally Edwards chairing the ExCo and the ECB chairman, Giles Clarke, continuing to do so for the financial committee.

The changes are not abstract ones affecting various committees, though, with changes to the financial model forming a central plank of the proposals. India are understood to have been unhappy that their position as the most commercially attractive force in world cricket was not being recognised in revenues from global events.

In line with that, the ICC board has agreed that full members will receive a greater share of central funds based largely on their financial contribution, but also considering "their ICC history and their on-field performances in the three formats".

The ICC is keen to assert that no full member will be worse off than they are at present but, with broadcasting and sponsorship deals set to rise, the richest nations can expect to become disproportionately wealthier.

As expected, a death sentence has been passed on the World Test Championship. In its the place the 50-over Champions Trophy will return in 2017 and 2021. In deference to the longer format, a Test cricket fund will be created, providing support to all full members except India, England and Australia.

There was good news for Associate nations such as Ireland and Afghanistan, who have been offered the chance of achieving Test status. The winners of the next Intercontinental Cup have been granted a play-off against the bottom-ranked full member, with 'promotion' to the Test elite at stake.

The ICC's president Alan Isaac said: "The board has made some significant decisions today which provide us with long-term certainty in relation to the future governance, competition and financial models of the ICC. This decision comes after extensive discussions between members that I helped initiate and were given impetus through a position paper presented by the BCCI, Cricket Australia and ECB in early January.

"A set of resolutions have been drafted, negotiated and modified – based on a set of principles agreed by the ICC board on 28 January – and finalised today. There were eight full members who were in a position to support the resolution today and the two who abstained have pledged to further discuss the issues with an aim to reaching unanimous approval over the coming weeks."

The ICC chief executive, David Richardson, said: "We now have clear direction from the board and it is our job to implement the approved resolution."PA