Worcestershire have signed South African all-rounder Wayne Parnell as their overseas player for the last leg of the Vitality Blast T20s and a block of four County Championship matches.

The 28-year-old Cape Cobra comes in for Travis Head, who has been selected for the Australia A team.

Parnell has been playing for the Edmonton Royals in the Canada Global T20 series. He will be available for the final six Vitality Blast North Group matches – alongside fellow overseas player Callum Ferguson – and, should the Rapids qualify, the knockout stages of the T20 competition.

The Port Elizabeth-born player will also be part of the Worcestershire squad for the championship games with Yorkshire, Lancashire, Hampshire and Surrey – the latter two at Blackfinch New Road.

Parnell has taken 180 first-class wickets, 211 List A and 167 T20 wickets in addition to scoring 2,024 first-class runs at an average of 26.98, 1,953 List A runs at 24.72 and 1,098 T20 runs at 18.93.

Worcestershire CCC’s head coach Kevin Sharp is delighted to have secured Parnell’s signature.

‘With the injuries we’ve had in the bowling department, and Travis leaving earlier than we anticipated, we wanted to make sure we had the resources to have all corners covered right through the remainder of the season.

‘Wayne is a quality performer and proven at international level, a top-notch bowler but someone who can bat as well and has scored a couple of first-class hundreds.’

Parnell made his first-class debut for Eastern Province in 2006-07 and was part of the South African U19 squad for the 2006 and 2008 World Cups.