Gloucestershire are delighted to announce the signing of West Indian fast bowler Shannon Gabriel.

Gabriel, who represented West Indies during the ICC Cricket World Cup this summer, will be joining the Gloucestershire squad for the three Specsavers County Championship matches in September as the club push for promotion to Division One.

Gabriel expressed his excitement ahead of his arrival. “I’m really looking forward to joining up with Gloucestershire in September and I will be trying my best to help the team push for promotion to Division One,” he said.

“Hopefully I’ll be carrying some good form off the back of the Test series against India.”

During the Cricket World Cup, Gabriel took two wickets against England, the wickets of Johnny Bairstow and Chris Woakes.

He made his Test debut for the West Indies against England at Lord’s in 2012 and has taken an impressive 283 wickets in 98 first-class matches including eight 5-fors.

Gabriel, who regularly bowls at 90mph, will bolster the Gloucestershire attack and supporters will be hoping he can cause headaches for opposing batsmen.

Head coach Richard Dawson is looking forward to adding the Test cricketer to his arsenal.

“Shannon gives us some genuine pace and international experience,” he said. “He will bring that extra pick-me-up for the last three weeks of the season which is a tough slog after playing T20 cricket along with four months of four-day cricket.

“He gives us another string to our bow in our bowling attack and he will be playing Test cricket against India so he will be match fit, I’m really looking forward to getting him involved.

“Obviously, we’ve played some very good cricket this season and we want to maintain that and if we do, it will go a long way to dictating where we finish in the table.”

Chief executive Will Brown added: “Shannon Gabriel is a hugely exciting talent who will join us straight from international duty and with plenty of experience.

“We have been very clear in our desire to be a Division One County Championship team and we see Shannon’s arrival as a great way to further bolster the outstanding squad effort we have seen from Gloucestershire already this season.”

Gabriel will be available for the following Specsavers County Championship fixtures:

Tue 10th September v Sussex – The Bristol County Ground

Mon 16th September v Worcestershire – New Road

Mon 23rd September v Northamptonshire – The Bristol County Ground

Fact File – Shannon Gabriel

• Full name – Shannon Terry Gabriel
• Born – April 28, 1988
• Age - 31 years
• Major teams - West Indies, Barbados Tridents, St Lucia Zouks, Trinidad & Tobago, Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel
• Playing role - Bowler
• Batting style - Right-hand bat
• Bowling style - Right-arm fast