Lancashire have signed Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf as a replacement for Brad Hodge while the Australian competes in the Indian Premier League.
Yousuf is expected to make his debut in Sunday's Friends Provident Trophy clash with Durham Dynamos at Old Trafford.
"I've always wanted to play county cricket, and to get the opportunity with a club as big as Lancashire is fantastic," said the 33-year-old.
"I'm determined to make a significant contribution to Lancashire's season."
"We were quite happy to go without a replacement for Brad if there wasn't somebody of the calibre of this guy"
Yousuf will be a short-term overseas player replacement for Hodge, who has signed a five-week contract with Kolkata Knight Riders.
Yousuf, who holds the record for the most Test runs scored in a calendar year, has scored almost 16,000 in 79 Tests and 261 one-day internationals.
"His record in cricket is tremendous. He's the type of player who can do the job justice over the next five weeks," cricket manager Mike Watkinson told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"We're not interested in average overseas players and he certainly isn't one. When you are looking for a replacement you have to look at every avenue.
606: DEBATE"I had a chat to a few of the guys, Andrew Flintoff in particular. He's bowled at him on a few occasions and reckons he's one of the best he's played against.
"Hopefully he'll give us a lot of experience and some star quality in the top order. We've got Flintoff with us at the moment, but we've got to be mindful we could be without him at any stage."
"We had planned to have Brad with us all season so the situation hasn't changed. We were quite happy to go without a replacement for Brad if there wasn't somebody of the calibre of this guy."
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