Sussex head coach Mark Davis believes they have signed one of the most in-demand bowlers in world cricket in Vernon Philander.

The South Africa star was confirmed as Sussex’s overseas player for the first half of the 2017 season this morning.

Philander’s capture comes just weeks after the 31-year-old all-rounder was named player of the series in South Africa’s 2-1 victory over Australia.

He took 12 wickets in the three-match series including match-winning contributions of 4-56 and 5-21 in the opening two games.

Davis admits that landing Philander was not straightforward – but called in a favour from fellow winter signing Stiaan van Zyl to help seal the deal.

He revealed: “Bringing in Vernon is a very exciting signing. He is one of the leading bowlers in world cricket and to have him bowling in English conditions is a very exciting prospect.

“It’s something that has been in the pipeline for a while so I’m delighted we’ve managed to get the deal done.

“He is a genuinely world class player and they are usually hard to get because of international commitments.

“The thing with Vernon is that he does not play white-ball cricket for South Africa, so won’t be involved in the Champions Trophy next summer, and is not in the IPL (Indian Premier League) so he was available for the first half of the season.

“I expect a player of his quality would have had a number of options open to him but he knows Stiaan pretty well so I got him to put in a word and it obviously did the trick!”

Philander has made 37 Test appearances since making a sensational debut five years ago when he took 5-15 in the second innings against Australia in Cape Town.

He has gone on to claim 142 Test wickets at an impressive average of 22.21 while contributing 891 runs with the bat, including five half centuries.

He has also played 37 games in limited overs cricket for South Africa but his last ODI appearance was in August 2015.

Philander will be available for Sussex’s opening six County Championship matches and the entire group stage of the Royal London One-Day Cup.

He has plenty of experience of county cricket having played for Middlesex in 2008, Somerset in 2012, Kent in 2013 and Nottinghamshire in 2015.

Philander – who was rated the second best bowler and third best all-rounder in the world three years ago – said: “I’m really looking forward to getting to Hove and playing for Sussex for the first couple of months of the English season.

“Although I haven’t come up against Sussex much in my time playing in England, I’ve always heard good things about the club and set-up.

“Hopefully I can put in some good performances to help the team in both red and white-ball cricket and pass on my experience to some of the younger players who I’ve heard such positive reports about.

“Mark Davis, the coaching team and Luke Wright are building an exciting squad and I’m excited to be a part of that in 2017.”