Ireland will face England in an expanded seven-team group in the first round of the 2011 World Cup.
The format - two groups of seven teams - was confirmed by the International Cricket Council on Wednesday.
Ireland were placed in Group B, with India, South Africa, West Indies, Bangladesh, and Holland also awaiting them.
The new format for the tournament in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, will see the overall number of games reduced from 51 to 49.
It will take over from the much-criticised structure of the last World Cup which began with four groups of four and progressed to a Super Eight stage.
"We're already certain that it will be shorter. You can be sure that we at the ICC had learnt from past mistakes," ICC president David Morgan said following a two-day board meeting in Johannesburg.
"I mean there is no doubt that the ICC World Cup in the Caribbean was unsuccessful in some aspects.
"We've learnt from that and I think that it's not worthy that we've now staged three highly successful events - 2007 and 2009 - World Twenty20 and now the Champions Trophy in the same years."
© UTV News