gifford continued to play for warwickshire into his late forties, and when he retired from playing at the age of 48 in 1988, he had taken 2,068 first-class wickets. the reduction in the amount of first-class cricket played means that he is likely to remain the last man to have broken the 2,000 mark. never much of a batsman, he made only three half-centuries in more than 800 innings, his 7,000 runs coming at an average of just 13. after retirement, gifford went into coaching and became coach of first sussex, and then durham.