Northants sign West Indies captain Jason Holder

The world's No.1 Test allrounder will be available for the club's first two Championship matches and six Royal London One-Day Cup fixtures

Northants have announced that Jason Holder, the world's No.1 Test allrounder, will join the club in 2019.

The West Indies Test skipper will be available for the club's first two Championship matches and six Royal London One-Day Cup fixtures.

"England is somewhere I've wanted to play for a long time and I'm looking forward to the experience of county cricket and testing myself in the different conditions," said Holder.

"Northamptonshire has a reputation of being a good club to be a part of, with a tight-knit squad and coaches who want to get the best out of their players.

^{Holder's 202* put England to the sword at Bridgetown}

"I'm hopeful from a personal point that it will provide me a good opportunity of acclimatizing to English conditions and getting some time in the middle ahead of the World Cup in England and I'm grateful to Northamptonshire for the opportunity which I am really looking forward to."

Northants' head coach David Ripley added: "Our discussions with Jason have been on-going for some weeks now," he said. "Jason is one of the world's top players and it will be great to have him as part of our squad during a period of the season where we will have both Specsavers County Championship and Royal London One-Day Cup matches.

"He is a quality bowler, match-winning batsman, catches well at slip and his leadership experience will also be important, supporting and working with Alex Wakely and our other senior players."