ICC chief executive Speed will take a leading role

An early test of the new powers will Australia's planned tour of Pakistan, which has been hit by security worries over the threat of terrorism, and tension with India.

New Zealand were forced home early from their tour of Pakistan in May when a bomb killed 14 people outside their hotel.

Australia also cancelled their scheduled tour of Zimbabwe in April because of safety worries following the controversial re-election of President Robert Mugabe.

But delegates had failed to back a compensation scheme to assist countries adversely affected by international political events.

"It is not as simple as "compensation" said ICC president Malcolm Gray.

"What do you 'compensate' for? Is it for future earnings or lost earnings? Is it for losses of cashflow?

"We decided that the path ICC should go down is that it does all it can to ensure that cricket is still being played in those countries."

Test rankings review

The cancellations have hit the ICC's tours programme and Test Championship, introduced a year ago, which required each Test side to play the other nine at home and away within a five-year period.

The executive board agreed to review the basis on which the ICC Test Championship is calculated, looking at the first 12 months of the system, and recommending possible improvements.

But confidence in the rankings is such that it will now be extended to one-day cricket, with the 10 Test-playing nations and official ODI side Kenya competing for top spot.

The precise details of the system and an opening ranking table will be released in the near future.

The system for the shorter version of the game is expected to run over two years, but triangular series in neutral venues will have to be included.

That ranking will extend to associate members, with a series of qualifying tournaments replacing the old ICC Trophy, which determines qualifiers for each World Cup.

Nigeria and the Cayman Islands have been handed associate member status and 10 new countries, including Brazil and Suriname, have admitted as affiliates, taking the number of cricket-playing nations to 85.

Bowling cleared up

The executive board also approved a streamlining of the process for dealing with suspect bowling actions.

Shoaib's action was reported last November

From the beginning of September the current three-stage process will be streamlined to two stages, with a first report requiring a player to work to correct his action.

A second report in 12 months could see a player suspended from international cricket for a year, if an independent panel deems the bowling action to be illegal.

The new process will not apply to any bowlers currently within the 12-month time frame of the existing procedure, including Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar and Ruchira Perera of Sri Lanka.