Zimbabwe Test star Andy Flower has agreed to become Essex's overseas player for next summer.

The county have confirmed the signing of 33-year-old Flower after receiving clearance from the Zimbabwe Cricket Union.

He replaces Australian Stuart Law, who left Essex at the end of the 2001 season and has now joined Lancashire.

Flower will arrive in early May following Zimbabwe's Test series against Australia and will play for the county until early September when he leaves to take part in the ICC Knockout competition.

"The signing of Andy Flower underlines the commitment by the county to reclaim their status as one of the country's leading clubs," said Essex chief executive David East.

"He will be a terrific asset to us in both Championship and one-day cricket and I am both delighted and excited that we have been able to successfully conclude our negotiations to bring the best batsman in the world to Essex on a one-year deal."

Flower is currently on tour with Zimbabwe in Bangladesh.

He averages over 56 in Test cricket after scoring 4,472 runs in 56 appearances, including 12 centuries, and has also made 5,687 runs in one-day internationals.

The county are currently revamping their playing staff after being relegated from Division One of the County Championship .

They have a new head coach in former England captain Graham Gooch and have also recruited former Yorkshire off-spinner James Middlebrook and ex-Leicestershire all-rounder Jon Dakin.

Flower is the latest in a line of top-class overseas batsmen to play at Chelmsford.

As well as Law, Australians Allan Border and Mark Waugh, former Pakistan skipper Salim Malik and South African Ken McEwan have all played for Essex in the past.