Canada will have to watch the next Cricket World Cup from the sidelines.

The International Cricket Council confirmed Monday that the 2015 tournament will be contested by 10 teams, leaving Canada and the other ICC Associate nations on the sidelines.

The decision — originally announced in October 2010 but contested in recent weeks by associate nations at the 2011 edition — was ratified by the ICC's executive board meeting.

The news, while not totally unexpected, comes as a blow for countries like Canada looking to build the sport back home.

"We've seen so much of an explosion of interest," said Ravin Moorthy, Cricket Canada's vice-president for high performance management.

"There's probably never been this much interest in cricket in this country before. It's just disappointing that it kind of puts the brakes on some momentum that was gathered over the last four to six weeks."

Cricket Canada had hoped the ICC, rather than closing the door on the associate nations, might opt for a qualifying tournament that would feature the two lowest-ranked full members with a group of associate countries.

"Although it wasn't ideal, we were still thinking as long as there was a chance to the play in the World Cup, it was acceptable," said Moorthy.

The 2011 tournament, which was won by co-host India, featured 14 teams and took 43 days to complete, prompting criticism that it was too long.

Canada, Kenya, Ireland and the Netherlands won just three matches between them, with Canada posting one victory and the Dutch two.

None of the four associate countries advanced, with Canada exiting with a 1-5 mark.

'Put ourselves in a good position'

'There is light at the end of the tunnel. The 2019 World Cup in England will also be made up of 10 teams, but the ICC announced that all full members will have to qualify.

After the tournament, a new ODI league system with promotion and relegation will be introduced.

The 2015 edition will be held in Australia and New Zealand and will involve the ICC's 10 full member nations — Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Moorthy argues that as a World Cup, the tournament should have as wide representation as possible.

He also says the key time comes between World Cups in terms of making the associate countries financially viable and being competitive on the field.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat suggested there could be a return to the format of the 1992 World Cup, in which nine teams competed in a round-robin league, with the top four progressing to the semifinals.

The whole tournament was completed in less than a month.

The ICC World Twenty20 event, held every two years, is, meanwhile, being expanded from 12 to 16 teams, thereby allowing more of the smaller cricketing nations to compete in an international tournament.

Canada will take part in a 16-team qualifying tournament in the United Arab Emirates in January for the 2012 World Twenty20.

"The kind of cricket that we played in the World Cup and the experience we have now in our program going forward, we're going to put ourselves in a good position to be in that Twenty20 World Cup," said Moorthy.

"Twenty20 is that kind of exciting anything-can-happen [cricket], so we'll see if we can cause a stir there and make our mark there."