South African Vernon Philander has linked up with Kent ahead of the start of their t20 campaign on Friday.

, was presented to the media at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence on Wednesday lunchtime.whose move to Kent was revealed by KentOnline on Monday nightPhilander,

end of July when he has commitments with the Caribbean Premier League.The 28-year-old has agreed to join Kent until the

He will play all forms of cricket for the county and, as well as the t20, will be available for the LV= County Championship games at Gloucestershire and at home to Hampshire.

Philander said: “I am obviously grateful for the opportunity and am happy to be here.

“It was pretty short notice, I got a call two to two and a half weeks ago. I am excited and want to make a difference.

“I had a chat with Justin Kemp (former Kent player) last week who said the club was a great setting and there was a great bunch here. I had other offers but after that conversation it was pretty obvious where I was going.

“Hopefully I’ll take a lot of wickets and hit a lot of sixes.”

Kent chairman of cricket Graham Johnson described Philander as an excellent signing for the club.

“His Test match record is remarkable, and we hope he will make a strong contribution to the Spitfires' t20 campaign, as well as kick start an improvement in four day results,” he said.

Philander is seen as one of the world's top bowlers, with his Test average of 17.13. He has taken 89 wickets in 16 Test matches and has two Test 50s with the bat.

The Spitfires entertain Middlesex in the t20 at Canterbury on Friday (7pm), before Surrey are the visitors on Sunday (3pm).