A busy August for Associates

The summer season of Associate cricket continues to take shape with various announcements about games being arranged.

Afghanistan's first foray into mainstream competition starts in the rather unlikely setting of Mutare where they take on Zimbabwe in a four-day Intercontinental Cup tie starting on August 16. From there the Afghans head to Europe where they meet Netherlands in the same competition starting on August 24 and follow that with their first two stand-alone ODIs on August 30 and September 1.

Kenya, meanwhile, head to Toronto where their Intercontinental Cup tie against Canada starts on August 7 and is followed by three ODIs on August 12, 14 and 16.

On August 17 Scotland's game with Ireland starts, and that is followed by an ODI weekend as two matches are held on August 22 and 23 ahead of Ireland's ODI against England on August 27 and Scotland's against Australia on August 28.

In the new Intercontinental Shield, Bermuda host Uganda in a four-day match starting on August 17 and the two then play a brace of one-day games on August 22 and 23 with a one-off Twenty20 clash on August 24.