Ireland will play no part in the next two World Cups after the International Cricket Council announced on Monday that just 10 teams will contest the tournaments in 2015 and 2019.
The news comes as a major blow to Associate Nations such as Ireland who argued long and hard that their likely exclusion from the World Cup would hinder development.
However, those pleas fell on deaf ears and a statement following a meeting of the ICC executive board in Mumbai read: "The executive board confirmed their decision, made in October 2010, that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand and the ICC Cricket World Cup in England in 2019 will be a 10-team event.
"The board agreed that the 2015 World Cup will comprise the existing 10 full members, however, they gave notice to all full members that participation in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup will be determined on the basis of qualification.
"It was also agreed that post the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 there will be promotion and relegation introduced in the ODI League."
Ireland famously and historically beat their more illustrious English opponents in the group stages of the recently completed competition and captain William Porterfield, writing on his Twitter page, described the decision as "an absolute disgrace", adding that "10 teams and no qualification" did not amount to a World Cup.