Norman Gifford passes away (Photo: Adrian Murrell/Getty Images)
Norman Gifford Died: The England cricket team is currently on a tour of Sri Lanka. This tour is starting from 22nd January, in the first match of which it should not be surprising if England players come on the field wearing black bands. He may do this to mourn the death of Norman Gifford. Former England cricketer Norman Gifford died at the age of 85. Norman Gifford gave 28 years of his life to cricket, during which he played 1107 matches, out of which 17 were international matches.
Cricket career started in 1960
Norman Gifford’s cricket career started in 1960. He played cricket for Worcestershire for 22 years. Apart from this, he also represented Warwickshire in county cricket. Gifford’s international debut was in a test match in the year 1964. He played his first Test against Australia at Lord’s. Whereas the last Test was played against New Zealand in 1973.
Record of ODI captaincy made at the oldest age
Norman Gifford also holds the record for being the oldest captain in One Day International. He also captained in the same series in which he made his ODI debut. That was also the first and last series of his career. Norman Gifford made his debut in the 4-nation ODI series played in Sharjah in 1985 at the age of 44 years and 359 days. Gifford got a chance in place of David Gower in this series. He is the second player to debut at the oldest age.
Norman Gifford also captained the team in the One Day International in which he made his debut. He also became the oldest captain in the world to captain in One Day International at the age of 44 years and 359 days. This record still stands today. Gifford played his first ODI match on 24 March 1985 against Australia. Whereas he played the last ODI of his international career on 26 March 1985 against Pakistan.
Norman Gifford’s career
Talking about Norman Gifford’s career, apart from scoring 7048 runs, he has taken 2068 wickets in his name in 710 matches played in first class cricket. He has taken 443 wickets scoring 1478 runs in 397 matches played in List A cricket. Talking about his international career only, apart from scoring 179 runs, he has taken 37 wickets in 17 matches played for England.