Lancashire have secured the services of Australia bowler Nathan Lyon for the duration of the 2024 season.
Lyon will spend the whole of next summer at Emirates Old Trafford in what will be his second LV = Insurance County Championship stint.
Off-spinner Lyon, who has claimed 496 Test wickets, played for Worcestershire in 2017 and helped them to promotion from Division Two.
“This is an exciting opportunity for me and I am really looking forward to heading over to England for a full season of county cricket with Lancashire,” Lyon said.
“I love playing cricket in England. I’m keen to keep learning, keep improving my game and hopefully I can contribute to winning matches for the Red Rose and pass on some of the experiences that I have gained over the years throughout my career.
“They have a strong squad at Lancashire and Emirates Old Trafford is a really great venue to play cricket at, so I am looking forward to that. It will also be great to catch up with Jimmy Anderson too.”
Lyon played twice in the drawn Ashes series in England earlier this summer before he suffered a calf injury at Lord’s, which sidelined the off-spinner until October.
Prior to that injury, Lyon had made 100 consecutive Test appearances for Australia and he has taken the third-most wickets for his country behind Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.
Lancashire, who are without a head coach following the departure of Glen Chapple in September, will have Lyon available for the start of the County Championship in April after his Test commitments with Australia are wrapped up in March following a two-match series in New Zealand.
Mark Chilton, Lancashire director of cricket performance, added: “Nathan is an extremely skilled and experienced operator and, once we heard that he was available for the duration of next summer, we jumped at the opportunity to add him to our squad for the 2024 season.
“His bowling record in both international and domestic cricket speaks for itself, and we believe that he will be an important player for us with the ball as we look to achieve our goals in all competitions.
“We have several young spin bowlers in our squad and for them to have the opportunity to learn from and play alongside somebody with almost 500 Test match wickets will be invaluable in their development and I am sure Nathan will play an equally significant role off the pitch as he will on it.”
