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Northamptonshire have made their first overseas signing for this summer's T20 Blast by recruiting Sikandar Raza.

The Pakistan-born Zimbabwe T20 captain is a much-travelled operator in world cricket, having played T20 cricket for 17 different sides - but this will be his first stay with an English county.

"This will be a different challenge for me," said 37-year-old all-rounder Raza.

"But I've loved playing cricket in England in the past. It's always been a wish to play in the Vitality Blast."

Raza plans to join the Northants squad before their first game on 30 May - and is scheduled to be available for all 14 group matches after Zimbabwe missed out on qualification for June's T20 World Cup.

He follows the red-ball signings of Australian paceman Chris Tremain and Indian batter Prithvi Shaw for 2024, while the county have also brought in Derbyshire fast bowler George Scrimshaw and Somerset's George Bartlett.

Raza, who has played league cricket in Lancashire and also in Scotland, has played in 17 Tests for Zimbabwe, 142 one-day internationals and 80 T20Is.

He is currently ranked fifth in the ICC men's T20 all-rounder world rankings, having scored 4,211 runs in 203 matches - and taken 117 wickets since his T20 debut in 2010.

Head coach John Sadler said: "He's a very experienced, high performer on a global scale. He's a three-dimensional cricketer who always has an impact in every game he plays. We know he's also a fierce competitor.

"Our first task is to secure a quarter-final spot and then take that momentum and belief into the latter stages."