Legendary former Worcestershire spinner and captain Norman Gifford MBE has died at the age of 85.
Slow left-armer Gifford, who played in 15 Test matches for England, played for Worcestershire for 22 years between 1960 and 1982, taking 1,615 first-class wickets and winning the County Championship in 1964 and 1965 and again, as captain, 10 years later.
He also led the Pears to the Sunday League title in 1971.
Gifford, who is second to leg-spinner Reg Perks on Worcestershire’s all-time list of wicket-takers, claimed more than 100 wickets in a season three times, with his best haul of 133 in 1961.
He took five wickets in an innings 76 times and finished with 10 in a match on 12 occasions.
“It’s really sad news,” Worcestershire chief executive Ashley Giles told BBC Hereford & Worcester.
“He was a wise voice on cricket here and will be very sadly missed.”
Giles called Gifford’s 22 years’ service to the club “extraordinary” and the fact he went on to play and captain Warwickshire afterwards “another incredible achievement”.
“He took 1,600 wickets which is certainly beyond any modern thinking but it’s the man and the character that we will miss.”
Gifford played well into his forties and spent five years with Warwickshire after leaving New Road, playing his final game – aptly at Worcestershire – in August 1989, at the age of 48.
He captained the Bears between 1985 and 1987 and finished with 471 wickets in first-class and List A cricket in his time at Edgbaston.
In Gifford’s first season as skipper he took 100 wickets in a season for the fourth time in his career, claiming 104 in 1985.
He ended his career with 2,068 wickets in 710 first-class matches.
Source link
