He is expected to leave for the United Kingdom after the second Test between the West Indies and Sri Lanka in late March.
The 32-year-old Barbadian is being brought in by Surrey following the departure of Morne Morkel and Sam Curran and Tom Curran set to miss the start of the season because of duties in the Indian Premier League (IPL), according to ESPNCricinfo.
"I am absolutely thrilled to be joining Surrey for the early part of the summer," Roach said. "Two grounds I wanted to play at as a kid were the two Ovals: Kensington and The Oval, home of Surrey.
"When Alec Stewart showed an interest in me I had no hesitation in saying yes to him. The club has a strong squad with a nice balance of youth and experience. I would like to thank CWI for allowing me the opportunity to go back and play county cricket again after a number of years."
At Surrey, he will join South Africa’s Hashim Amla as the club’s second overseas player for the early part of the season.
Roach, who has 384 first-class wickets, last played in the county championships in 2011 when he suited up for Worcestershire.
Joseph, whose breathtaking performances in the recently-concluded two Test series against Australia earned him the Player of the series award, was instrumental in the regional side's historic second Test win against the World Champions. He took five wickets for 94 runs in the first encounter, which Australia won by 10 wickets and seven wickets for 68 runs in West Indies' famous eight-run win.
The 24-year-old Joseph and his pace partners all secured ranking upgrades, as Kemar Roach moved two places up to 17th and Alzarri Joseph inched four places up to 33rd. New Zealand’s Kane Williamson remains the Number one batsman ahead of England’s Joe Root and Australian Steve Smith, while the bowling list is headed by Indian Ravi Ashwin followed by South African Kagiso Rabada and Australia's captain Pat Cummins.
All-rounders Jason Holder, ranked at seventh, and 10th-ranked Kyle Mayers, the highest rated West Indies players on the all-rounders’ list, did not play against Australia in the recent series. India’s Ravi Jadeja heads that list.
The last time the regional team faced Sri Lanka away, in 2015, it was the part-time spin of Brathwaite that stole of as the batsman claimed six wickets in an innings. The frontline pace bowlers Kemar Roach (2), Jason Holder (3), Shannon Gabriel (1) failed to have a huge impact on the series, with the exception of Jerome Taylor who claimed 6 over two games.
Although the captain admits the surface is likely to favour spinners, Brathwaite is confident the Windies quicks will have a big role to play.
We haven’t been there as yet to see the surface but there’s always a role for the fast bowlers. Shannon Gabriel really led the way in Bangladesh in the first Test, bowling with some good pace, then Kemar Roach getting an early wicket in the morning was very crucial. Obviously, Jason wasn’t there but is always crucial. So, I do believe that possibly there being spin-friendly pitches, I think the pace bowlers will do well.
“I can see them getting wickets. It’s really about building pressure but seamers are very important and obviously, Shannon will bring some aggression and I look forward to seeing the guys operating.”
