Chanders, 42, signed by Lancashire

West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul will return to Lancashire for his second spell at the club on a one-year deal.

While South African wicketkeeper batsman Dane Vilas has joined after signing for two years, with both players on Kolpak contracts.

With the club losing Ashwell Prince, Tom Smith and Alviro Petersen over the last two seasons, Chapple admitted when he was appointed last week that the club needed to bring in experienced players to help what is a young squad.

“We’re delighted to bring two experienced international batsman into the club ahead of the new season,” said Chapple.

“Shivnarine knows what it takes to be successful. The talented squad here at Lancashire is very young and Shivnarine will bring a healthy level of experience to help guide them.

“Whilst Shivnarine will undoubtedly have an important role to play on the field, his role off the field will be of huge importance to our young players.” Chanderpaul, at 42, certainly has a wealth of experience. He has scored close to 12,000 runs in 164 Tests, and is closing in on 26,000 first-class runs. He has also played 268 one-day internationals.

And the left-hander — who has also played for Derbyshire, Durham and Warwickshire — has lost none of his runscoring abilities by hitting back-to-back centuries for Guyana last month.

“He’s one of the most experienced international cricketers in the history of the game and it will be a fantastic opportunity for our players to learn from him, in all aspects of the game,” added Chapple.

Chanderpaul played eight firstclass matches for Lancashire in his previous spell in 2010, hitting two centuries and five fifties.

“I can’t wait to return back to Lancashire this summer,” he said.

“It’s an extremely ambitious club and there are some fantastically talented young cricketers in the squad.

“I’m looking forward to passing on some of my experience to the younger players. The 2017 season is going to be an exciting and progressive one for Lancashire.”