World Cup semi-finalists Kenya need to speed up their reforms before applying for Test status, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday.

Kenya, who were beaten by India in the World Cup semi-finals in South Africa last year, needed to improve in a number of areas before making the jump from a one-day international team, the ICC said.

"While things are moving forward, the pace of progress is too slow," said ICC president Ehsan Mani in a statement after two days of meetings between the ICC and the Kenyan Cricket Association (KCA) in Nairobi.

"The ICC has committed $US 1 million through to 2005 to make this happen.

"Over the past two days we have been able to see first hand how the KCA is progressing in achieving these objectives.

"Some deadlines have been missed and we have underlined the need for the KCA to commit to and deliver against the agreed plan."

Areas that needed to be improved included the reform of corporate governance at the KCA, the employment of a full time general manager, the development of a sustainable financial base and strong performances on the pitch at junior and senior levels.

"The task ahead for the KCA is to ensure that, piece by piece, bit by bit, it is able to put these things in place," said chief executive Malcolm Speed.

"Until this has been achieved, the KCA will not be able to demonstrate to the other ICC members that they are ready to make the leap to test status."

Mani added the ICC would try to organise a regular international programme for Kenya.

Bangladesh were admitted as the 10th Test nation after defeating Pakistan at the 1999 World Cup in England but have lost 26 of their 28 Tests with two draws.