Norman Gifford, former England and Worcestershire spinner, dies aged 85

Norman Gifford, the former England, Worcestershire and Warwickshire left-arm spinner, has died aged 85, after a prolonged battle with illness.

Gifford was a key member of Worcestershire's 1964 and 1965 County Championship-winning sides, and went on to captain the club to the title in 1974, as well as the first of their three Sunday League wins in 1971.

He featured for the club for 22 years, between 1960 and 1982, claiming 1,615 first-class wickets during that period. He was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1975, and earned an MBE in 1978 for his services to cricket.

His Test career comprised 15 Tests between 1964 and 1973, in which he claimed 33 wickets at 31.09, with a best of 5 for 55 against Pakistan in Karachi.

However, he had an improbable postscript more than a decade later, when - at the age of 44 - he stood in as England captain for two ODIs in the Rothmans Four-Nations Cup in Sharjah.

England were missing a number of first-choice players after a gruelling winter, including regular captain David Gower, and duly lost to both Australia and Pakistan. Gifford, however, claimed 4 for 23 in ten economical overs in the latter match.

By this stage of his career he had moved on to Warwickshire, whom he captained across five seasons until his retirement from cricket at the age of 48 in 1988. His impact on both clubs is commemorated by the Norman Gifford Trophy, for which both clubs compete during their Vitality Blast encounters.

Gifford subsequently returned to Worcestershire as club president, before being awarded an Honorary Vice Presidency role.