A SENIOR International Cricket Council official has spelt out some of the steps Ireland must take if the ever-improving national team are to join the elite of the cricketing world.

Richard Done, the ICC's High Performance Manager, is responsible for developing the second tier of non-Test playing nations, and he has been impressed with Ireland's recent progress.

But talking on the eve of a tri-nations one-day international qualifier against Zimbabwe, the Aussie played down any notion that the national side are ready to be promoted to the top table in the immediate future.

Done said: "There is no question that Ireland have been top of the tree among the non-Test countries for the past 18 months or so, but that position needs to be maintained over a longer period of time.

 "Before you can start talking about any new country becoming a full member and playing Tests they would have to demonstrate a level of consistency and show that they can regularly compete with the bigger boys.

"That's what I'm looking for from the High Performance Program -- a consistency of performance on the field.

"You're not going to win every game, but you can't afford to be losing matches by large margins, like the (156 run) defeat by Zimbabwe last Friday.

"To hit the radar, Ireland would also want to be winning next April's World Cup qualifying tournament and then beat one or two of the full members in 2011 (in the tournament proper).

"There has to be sustainability too. It would be important to know that this team isn't just a short-term boom -- that there is a depth there in playing strength, and the youth development pathway is right."

 Done quotes sustainability off the field as another key factor, with Ireland needing to be able to finance professional contracts, support administration and umpiring structures and even to build a national cricket stadium.

He said: "There is a bigger picture to this as well, and it's whether Ireland as a whole sees itself as a cricketing nation, as you would have to say Bangladesh does, for example.

" But his overall message to aspiring smaller nations is to have the ambition and go for it because the ICC door to full membership isn't closed -- even if it will take a fair bit to prise it fully open.

Done added: "This is an exciting time for world cricket. The invention of Twenty20 has caused upheaval across the board and that will inevitably lead to change and opportunity."