Surrey have signed Sri Lanka star Kumar Sangakkara on a two-year deal until the end of the 2016 season.
The 37-year-old is currently top of the International Cricket Council's Test batting rankings and sits fifth on the all-time run-scorer's list with 12,203 in the format.
Having announced his intention to retire from one-day international cricket after this year's World Cup, he is likely to be available for much of the county season, though his precise dates are yet to be finalised.
Alec Stewart, Surrey CCC director of cricket, said: "We're delighted that Kumar has agreed to join us. He is the number-one Test batsman in the world but it's the special character that he has which is as important to us.
"He is a five-star player and five-star person and that is important because he will be working with our young homegrown players as they become serious cricketers at this level.
"He has worked a lot with our coach Graham Ford, when he was in charge of Sri Lanka, and we are both very happy to reach this stage."
Welcome to the club @KumarSanga2! I'm sure you will love every minute
— Jason Roy (@JasonRoy20) January 16, 2015
Sangakkara has previously represented Warwickshire and had a two-game stint with Durham last season, signing off with 159.
He recently became the fastest player to reach 12,000 Test runs, doing so in the second Test against New Zealand where he went on to crack a superb double-hundred.
On his last visit to England, Sangakkara continued his hot streak for 2014 by scoring a century and a half-century at Lord's and following it up with two fifties at Headingley.