London: The Volcanic ash cloud that continues to shut airspace in Europe is threatening to affect the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies as many of the competing teams would struggle to reach the Caribbean on scheduled time since London is a transit point through to the Caribbean for many teams.

England and Ireland will not travel unless the UK airspace opens up and other teams will also find it tough to reach on time as London is a major transit point.

An ECB spokesman said “they are monitoring the situation and will make a decision in a few days’ time as to the arrangements for the team – who are due to leave next weekend – although there seem precious few alternatives, with the nearby European airports such as Paris and Frankfurt also closed.”

A lot of players are in India for the Indian Premier League and with London being a transit point, their travel plans are also likely to be affected.

“India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh are teams who are likely to travel through London to West Indies next week, but the latest reports suggest the skies won’t clear for at least a couple more days,” said a spokesperson.

Australia and New Zealand will probably be able to avoid the problems by flying via the United States if the issue persists, while South Africa may also be able to use the US or fly direct to the Caribbean.

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