Test cricket's newly-introduced world championship system may soon be matched by an equivalent model for one-day internationals.

A proposal to establish a rolling set of world one-day rankings will feature among the leading items for discussion at next week's meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Executive Board in Kuala Lumpur.

The broad aim of its inclusion on the agenda is to build on months of work already undertaken by the ICC in investigating the feasibility of a range of potential options.

Those options are understood to include a model based heavily on the head-to-head results method at the core of the ICC Test Championship system launched in May.

That system measures the respective performance of the world's 10 Test-playing countries on the basis of their results in home-and-away series against each of their rivals.

But the vast proliferation of international limited-overs matches in recent times poses a number of problems for the application of such a model, meaning that a range of other possibilities are certain to be explored.

At the core of the new proposal is a desire to add greater meaning to one-day international fixtures by creating a simple, easily-understandable, and comparative measure of each country's recent performances.

Attention next week may therefore turn to measures such as the introduction of a shorter cut-off period than the five year limit currently used for the Test version, and the addition of extra weight to the most recently-completed one-day matches and series between teams.

Means of reflecting the results of individual matches within series - rather than the overall outcome of series as a whole - also seem likely to become a major strand of the discussions.

Ultimately, the ICC plans to adopt and introduce its new model by April 2002.

Among a wide range of matters for discussion, delegates at next week's meeting will also consider the introduction of sweeping new sanctions aimed at strengthening penalties imposed on players found guilty of misconduct, and the advent of potential penalties for countries which withdraw from matches and/or tours to which they have previously committed.

Consideration of Kenya's application for Test status will take another step forward with approval to be given to the proposal that an official delegation shortly visit the country with a view to assessing the current state of the sport and facilities within its borders.

The Council's moves to establish an elite panel of fully-professional international umpires and match referees will also be further advanced.

And the meeting is likely to have major implications for the arrangement of the next ICC Trophy - the tournament which brings together the sport's associate nations in the battle for berths in the World Cup.

Rising costs and logistical difficulties mean that the tournament is likely to be significantly streamlined, to the point that just 12 countries - as opposed to the 22 which took part in 2001 - will participate in the next version of the event in 2005.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd