SOMERSET County Cricket Club has confirmed the overseas signing of Migael Pretorius to bolster their bowling attack for the County Championship.

Pretorius' signing comes after the original overseas signing of Will Sutherland had to be cancelled due to the Australian bowler picking up an injury.

The 29-year-old South African Pretorius will join the Club in time for the second Vitality County Championship fixture of the season against Surrey and will be available for a minimum of six red-ball matches.

After signing for the Club, Migael said: “I’m looking forward to joining up with my teammates in the next few weeks. I enjoyed my time in England last summer and I want to show what I can do in the First Division.

“Somerset are a team with a good reputation and hopefully I can take some wickets and help them win some games in the first part of the season.”

He has claimed 165 career wickets in 56 First Class matches at an average 25.83 with a best of six for 38.

He was a member of the South Africa Test squad for the series against Sri Lanka in 2020 and was also named in the IT20 squad for the series against Pakistan the following year.

Director of Cricket, Andy Hurry added: “With Will Sutherland becoming unavailable due to injury, we wanted to make sure that we were able to bring in a similar kind of player. In his time with Durham last season, Migael proved that he can perform and take wickets in English conditions.

“He is a quality player and very driven, so he will certainly add value and depth to our attack. There is a lot of cricket ahead of us, so it’s vital that we maximise the options that we have available to us.”