Chief executive Haroon Lorgat has defended the International Cricket Council's decision to cut the number of teams at the 2015 World Cup to 10 and hinted the move was to avoid one-sided matches early in the tournament.

While the Twenty20 equivalent will be expanded to 16 countries, the major global showpiece will be downsized which means non-Test playing nations Canada, Kenya, Ireland and Netherlands are set to miss out in Australia and New Zealand in four years' time.

The move has caused anger among the boards of the associate countries but Lorgat is confident the ICC's rationale is logical.

He told a press conference: "Twenty20 is, we believe, the format we use to develop and spread the game, that is why we have extended that competition to 16 teams.

"Fifty-over cricket is a little bit more skill-based in the sense that over 50 overs you can compete more strongly. Hence why we believe 10 teams in the 50-over event will be more suitable."

Non-Test playing nations have struggled to compete with the more established cricket countries over recent World Cups, meaning many group matches lack competitiveness.

However, Kenya memorably made the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup while Ireland reached the last eight four years ago, and the associates argue it would stunt their development if they were not allowed to compete at the highest level.