At a board meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) at the governing body's Dubai headquarters, officials agreed to the creation of an "invitational" Twenty20 World Championship in 2007 with an event in 2009 where "participation will be mandatory", according to an ICC statement.

Explaining the two-stage introduction, the ICC said: "Several members are strongly in favour of including a Twenty20 World Championship in the next round of ICC events while other members are not as enthusiastic."

Pioneered three years ago in the professional game at county level in England, Twenty20 - whose name derives from the fact that a match is made up of just 20 overs per side - has drawn large crowds around the world.

But concerns have been expressed that an expansion of Twenty20 could threaten the standing of the World Cup, cricket's leading one-day international tournament, which is currently staged once every four years and whose next edition is set to take place in the Caribbean in 2007.