Europe's SIDE for the defence of the Ryder Cup in Boston next year will, controversially, again comprise 10 qualifiers and two wild cards chosen by the yet-to-be-named captain.

A rule change, however, specifies that the wild cards must be members of the European Tour - had this rule been in operation last year Jesper Parnevik could not have been chosen.

Seve Ballesteros, who relinquished the captaincy after the one-point victory at Valderrama four months ago, had wanted to see more wild cards, a shorter qualifying race and points only for the top 15 finishers in tournaments - but all those proposals have been rejected.

So has the possibility, aired by European tour executive director Ken Schofield last season, of the world rankings being used to help determine the team.

Instead, the only changes announced yesterday by Europe's Ryder Cup Committee, following a joint recommendation from the tour's board of directors and tournament committee, are that next February's inaugural £2.5 million World Championship match play event in California - open to the world's top 64 - will be included in the qualifying table, and that the wild cards must be European Tour members.

If the last regulation had been in place in 1997, Ballesteros could not have selected Parnevik, who lost only one of his four matches at Valderrama and was joint runner-up in the British Open. The Swede is a member only of the US Tour at present.

But Parnevik may need to make only four European tour appearances next year rather than the current seven to become eligible again. The three new World Series tournaments will count, along with the four Majors, towards the 11 events in which a player must compete for membership of the European circuit.

Mitchell Platts, spokesman for the Ryder Cup Committee, said: "The board and tournament committee were at one on this following a joint meeting, when there was a full review of the last six matches and a general feeling players should make the effort to qualify for membership to be eligible for the Ryder Cup."

An announcement on who takes over from Ballesteros is likely just before the start of the 12-month qualifying period at the Canon European Masters in Switzerland from September 3rd to 6th.

Nobody has even been approached about the job yet, but one of the favourites is Mark James, chairman of the tournament committee and member of the board of directors. He would certainly not be as outspoken about the selection system as Ballesteros was.

Most leading players have said there should be more than two wild cards, with Colin Montgomerie saying he would like the captain to choose all 12.