World Cup cut to 10 teams for 2015 and 2019

Members of India's squad hold the trophy during celebrations after they defeated Sri Lanka during their ICC Cricket World Cup final match in Mumbai April 2, 2011.

LONDON (Reuters) - The 2015 and 2019 World Cups will be contested by 10 teams after the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday confirmed their decision to cut four nations from the tournament.

The 2015 tournament, to be held in Australia and New Zealand, will be contested by the 10 full member nations meaning associate nations will miss out, the ICC said after an executive board meeting in Mumbai on Monday.

The two most recent tournaments, held in West Indies in 2007 and India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2011, have attracted criticism for lasting too long.

This year's tournament, won by India on Saturday, had 14 teams competing and lasted for six weeks with Ireland the only non test cricket playing nation to cause an upset, beating England in the group stage.

Associate member nations Ireland, Netherlands, Kenya and Canada, who were all knocked out in the group stages of this year's tournament, will have to wait until 2019 to compete again.

The 10 spots available for the 2019 tournament in England will be determined on the basis of qualification.

(Writing by James Illingworth; Editing by Justin Palmer; to query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)