LANCASHIRE have announced the signing of former South Africa Test opening batsman Alviro Petersen on a two-year contract with the option of a third.

Petersen retired from international cricket after a series against the West Indies earlier this month, meaning the 34-year-old is able to join the Emirates Old Trafford outfit as a Kolpak player.

Lancashire will be the right-hander’s fourth county after spells with Glamorgan, Essex and Somerset.

Petersen scored 2,093 runs from 36 Tests, including five centuries and eight fifties. He also played 21 one-day and two Twenty20 internationals, and he has a total of 35 first-class hundreds from 188 matches.

One of those hundreds came in a Championship draw for Somerset against Lancashire at Old Trafford last June, when Petersen scored 155.

He has an exceptional overall record against the Red Rose, which stands at 440 runs from eight matches at an average of 88. The South African also scored a 40-over hundred against Lancashire for Glamorgan at Colwyn Bay in 2011.

“I feel that at 34 it is time for me to retire from international cricket and to move on with my career,” said Petersen, who plays his domestic cricket in South Africa for Highveld Lions.

“I am delighted to be joining Lancashire. They are a massive club with some outstanding facilities at their Emirates Old Trafford home.

“In Ashley Giles, they have a top coach, who will move the county in the right direction.”

New Lancashire cricket director and head coach Ashley Giles said: “We are delighted to bring a player of Alviro’s calibre to Emirates Old Trafford.

“His experience at the top of the order, both internationally and domestically, is second to none, and he will bring outstanding quality to our batting unit.

“He is a player who is well respected within the game, and his experience will be of immense benefit to our younger batsmen.”

With Petersen’s status as a Kolpak player, which is the third in Lancashire’s squad alongside compatriot and fellow batsman Ashwell Prince and ex-Zimbabwe fast bowler Kyle Jarvis, the club are still able to sign two overseas players – one for four-day and one-day cricket and another for T20.

Giles recently revealed that he may opt to start the season without a main overseas player, although if a seam bowler or seam bowling all-rounder became available, he would have to think seriously about a deal.