If they can find a consensus on the delicate matter of who should succeed Clyde Walcott as chairman next year, the Test countries may well give their blessing to the Kenyan initiative, so long as it does not alter a voting system which is already too heavily weighted towards countries where the game is very much a minority sport.

Kenya's idea is that there should be an intermediate 'one-day status' for countries who fulfil four criteria: a solid infrastructure, with cricket played at schools, club, district and provincial level; a sound financial base; an established programme of first-class (three or four-day) games; and grounds of international standard.

Robbie Armstrong, of the Kenya Cricket Association, has proposed a status which would entitle these countries to entry to the four-yearly World Cups and to invitations to other regional one-day tournaments.

Armstrong said: ``The benefits of this would be tremendous at local level. It would give players and adminstrators something to work for and a stepping-stone to Test status which is not there at present.''