Flight disruptions caused by the ash cloud in Europe could severely hit the International Cricket Council's plans for a smooth start to its World Twenty20 event on April 30 in the West Indies.

Most competing teams have travel plans routed via the United Kingdom and ongoing flight suspensions have pushed cricket's governing body to look at possible rerouting.

Team Afghanistan, who were scheduled to travel late last week from Sharjah, have been stranded, but continue to train here.

Only two teams, Ireland and Zimbabwe, are presently in the West Indies, while the remaining 10 teams were scheduled to commence travel this week.

ICC spokesperson James Fitzgerald told Emirates Business that the council's events and logistics team is working round the clock to ensure minimal impact. While New Zealand have already made their own arrangements, the biggest worry remains England.

It is likely that the teams routed through UK – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Australia and South Africa – will find non-European routes to reach the Caribbean, if flights do not resume by the weekend.

However, England, who play their first match on May 3 against the West Indies, have presented the ICC with their toughest challenge if the no-fly bans in Europe are not lifted in time.

"We're certainly doing all we can to find a solution. The ash cloud has affected a number of things. Some of the teams were due to be transiting through the UK but at the moment all flights are still cancelled. We are trying to come up with a back up plan," said Fitzgerald.

"England is obviously a problem. What we may look at is finding an airport that is open in Europe and try routing them through there, so it may necessitate some road travel."

With an events team already in place in the Caribbean and the rest of ICC's work force flying out of Dubai tonight, no organisational delays are expected. The ICC has presently ruled out postponing the start of the event and remains hopeful that conditions will ease, said Fitzgerald.

"We're working hard to make sure there is no delay in the tournament. At this stage, we're not planning to postpone the event. We will do our best to ensure teams get good preparation time before their matches. It has been a challenge but we're doing everything to minimise the impact," he said.

The men's teams were scheduled to play warm-up games from April 27 to 29 in Barbados, St Lucia and Guyana while the women were slated to play on May 2 and 3 in St Kitts.

India elected not to play any warm-up matches while Sri Lanka opted to play only one warm-up match, due largely to player participation in the Indian Premiere League (IPL).

When contacted, Indian opener Gautam Gambhir told Emirates Business he was unaware whether the team's travel plans had been altered. "I have no clue what's going on with the travel plans," he said.

Meanwhile, in the UAE, Afghanistan's players were reportedly unperturbed by the delay in their plans. Afghanistan arrived in the GCC early this month to compete in the ACC Trophy Elite competition in Kuwait.

After wining the ODI tournament on April 9, the team arrived in Sharjah a day later for a training camp that concluded last week. The flight delays have failed to disrupt their preparations as the team returned to their training ground yesterday.