Sport-by-sport guide to how volcanic ash crisis affects fixtures

CRICKET

England are likely to be the worst-affected of teams set to travel to the Caribbean for cricket's ICC World Twenty20 next weekend. Ireland are already in the Caribbean along with Zimbabwe, while Afghanistan are also expected to arrive soon.

England are due to leave next Sunday. Contingency plans will be hard to come by, with remaining European airports in the same situation as Gatwick and Heathrow and several England players still on the sub-continent in any case for the Indian Premier League.

CURLING

The World Senior Championships and the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship are going ahead in Chelyabinsk in Russia, but Scotland's teams were forced to withdraw.

CYCLING

Alejandro Valverde, Carlos Sastre and Bradley Wiggins were among 13 riders forced to pull out of the Amstel Gold race after travel plans to the Netherlands were thrown into disarray.

DIVING

The final leg of the Diving World Series, due to be staged in Sheffield this week, was rearranged to take place in Veracruz, Mexico, following the conclusion of the second leg there at the weekend.

FOOTBALL

This week's Champions League semi-finals go ahead but there are doubts over the Europa League semi-finals. Celtic's friendly with Alkmaar on Wednesday is in doubt. Newcastle will make the 400-mile journey to Plymouth for tonight's match by coach.

FORMULA 1

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has no doubts the Spanish Grand Prix will go ahead on 9 May as scheduled despite teams fearing their preparations could be hampered as they struggle to get personnel and cards back from China. But when asked whether the grand prix could be postponed, Ecclestone said: "No. Not at all. There are no problems with the race."

GOLF

The European Challenge Tour were forced to delay their stop-off in Morocco, due to begin on Wednesday at the Pullman Mazagan Royal Golf and Spa, though they hope to reschedule the tournament later this year.

The Ballantine's Championship in Korea on the full PGA European Tour is unlikely to be affected, with the majority of players already in Asia after the Volvo China Open.

The Ireland v Scotland senior women's two-day international, due to tee off yesterday at Portmarnock Golf Club, was postponed until October because the ferries are fully booked.

ICE HOCKEY

Great Britain shrugged off a 26-hour bus ride to produce a fantastic 4-1 victory in their World Championship opener against Croatia on Saturday. After a long journey to Slovenia by coach, the team arrived at the rink just two hours before face-off.

MOTOGP

Next week's MotoGP race in Motegi, Japan, is expected to be postponed today until 1 October, with an eye on guarding against potential problems with teams getting back to Spain for the high-profile round in Jerez in two weeks.

RUGBY LEAGUE

Salford coach Shaun McRae admitted the rigours of a 27-hour coach journey took its toll as the Reds crashed out of the Carnegie Challenge Cup at the hands of Catalans Dragons. McRae's men were forced to travel to Perpignan by coach and ferry and they did not arrive at their hotel until the early hours of Sunday. Widnes Vikings' Carnegie Challenge Cup fixture with Lezignan was postponed on Saturday.

RUGBY UNION

Edinburgh's journey to Wales by train and coach instead of plane didn't seem to do them any favours as they went down 49-28 at Newport yesterday. This week's fixtures involving the two Scottish teams will require ferry trips from Ireland if flights remain grounded, with Glasgow due to host Leinster at Firhill on Friday night and Edinburgh at home to Ulster on Sunday.

SNOOKER

Mark Allen did not arriving at the World Championship in Sheffield until 11.30pm on Saturday night after a ferry journey from Northern Ireland, but looked unaffected though as he led England's Tom Ford 4-0 yesterday.