Countries boycotting World Cup matches may be kicked out of the tournament in future, International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Malcolm Speed said on Saturday.

This year's tournament was thrown into chaos when England and New Zealand refused to play first-round group matches in Zimbabwe and Kenya.

The ICC will also decide this year whether to change the format of the competition and reduce the number of teams taking part after complaints that the 2003 World Cup in South Africa was too long.

Speed said the World Cup's credibility was damaged by England's refusal to play a match in Harare and New Zealand pulled out of a game in Nairobi. Both teams forfeited points but continued in the tournament.

"It had a very negative impact

that the two matches were boycotted," Speed told a news conference after a meeting with West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) officials about the 2007 World Cup.

"We don't have a solution at the moment, we have four years to find a solution," he added.

He said that in future, he wanted the ICC to make teams sign an undertaking to fulfil all their World Cup fixtures.

"What we would like is that once teams have agreed to play the World Cup, they are bound to play in each World Cup match, and that we require them to honour that undertaking or they will leave the World Cup," he said.

The issue of the number of teams and format will be discussed by the ICC in London next month after criticism that the 14 sides taking part in South Africa was too many.

"We are looking at all the options," Speed said. "Maybe we go back to 12 teams, maybe we stay with 14 or maybe we extend to 16.

"There are seven or eight options we are looking at. In some there might 54 be games, the lowest number of games is 39."

Speed, however, rejected suggestions that this year's tournament had been too long.

"There were some criticisms that it was too drawn out, but we heard that mainly from English journalists once their team went home, it became a bit long and drawn out for them," he said.

"I didn't hear any complaints from India or New Zealand or South Africa, they were enjoying every minute of it."

Speed added that security had been greatly increased in South Africa after a number of end-of-match pitch invasions marred the 1999 World Cup in England.

"In South Africa, we did not have a single incident of an unauthorised person coming on to the pitch in the 52 matches and we would expect that level of security in West Indies in 2007," he said.