Emilio Gay scored his first first-class century of the 2026 season while eyeing a potential England Test call-up.
Emilio Gay opened the 2026 season with a blazing start, racing to the fastest century of the summer. The left-handed batter struck 128 runs against Kent in Durham’s first innings total of 335. A week later against Gloucestershire, Gay managed just five runs while sandwiched between Ben McKinney’s mammoth 244 and David Bedingham’s 118, following Alex Lees’ dismissal for 129. Durham declared their innings at 605 for five.
After facing early criticism in the team group chat for missing out on runs, Gay joked that teammates teased him with messages like 'Emilio Gay: Oh it's doing a bit, isn't it?' He recounted walking off at Bristol after being dismissed for six, seeing David Bedingham coming to the crease. 'When I was walking off at Bristol, I saw Bedders coming down and thought, 'Bedders is definitely getting a hundred today!' I was happy for everyone, but my six balls felt like it was doing all sorts as well!' The dressing room culture helped Gay take the jokes in stride as Durham won by an innings.
Now 26 years old, Emilio Gay is in the mix for England’s Test team, potentially replacing Zak Crawley in the first Test against New Zealand if the Kent batter fails to regain form. Somerset’s James Rew is also in contention, playing outside the opening slot like Gay. Glamorgan’s Asa Tribe and Durham teammate Ben McKinney, who occasionally shares a room with Gay, round out the shortlist. All four were part of the England Lions tour to Australia during the Ashes, signaling close monitoring of their progress.
Gay’s involvement in the Lions tour came after he scored 1076 runs in his debut summer for Durham, arriving from Northamptonshire. He followed that up with scores of 46 and 71 for the Lions against India A. In Australia, Gay contributed 78 and 32 against a Cricket Australia XI before an unbeaten 56 in a win over the Prime Minister’s XI. A hamstring injury sidelined him for the unofficial Test against Australia A and later the T20 World Cup with Italy.
Gay helped Italy qualify for the T20 World Cup, leveraging his maternal grandfather’s roots near Naples. His father’s side traces back to Grenada, giving him eligibility for three teams. 'I was in Canberra actually, two days before I got injured, when the group came out and I found out we [Italy] were playing against England and West Indies. I've obviously got family from the West Indies, on my dad's side [whose parents hail from Grenada]. I could actually qualify for three teams! When they played against West Indies and England, I had a bit of FOMO.'
With his sights set firmly on England, Gay remains unsure of his exact standing in the pecking order. 'It's a tricky one really. You've just been on the Lions tour, shadowing the Ashes. I played well over there, so I'd like to have thought I was potentially knocking on the door. The injury came at a terrible time, to be honest, but obviously I started the season well with a hundred against Kent.'
A winter alongside the England Test team revealed the extra pressure awaiting Gay. He trained with Joe Root ahead of the second Test in Brisbane and watched England’s greatest batter notch an Ashes century from the Gabba stands. Local fans openly criticised the Lions players, with Gay, Jordan Cox, and Tom Haines wearing England kit at a café and hearing comments like 'calling you crap.' Graeme Swann stressed this scrutiny as part of the pathway: 'This is a part of playing international cricket. Don't pretend it's not there. We want you to thrive on that.'
Andrew Flintoff offered Gay pivotal advice on mindset during the Lions tour. 'Freddie was massive on with me on mindset. He obviously had that aura, call it arrogance or confidence, when he went out there. And he noticed that I sometimes have a bit of a strut when I walk out to bat. I had it against India A, and played well. And he just congratulated me on having a strut. I was like, 'Wow, like really?' He was like, 'Yeah, like, we want you to have that.' He mentioned Baz [Brendon McCullum] and Stokesy [Ben Stokes], and he was like, 'All of us, we want that.'
Gay has focused heavily on the mental side of cricket since his Northamptonshire days, when opposition teams targeted him with verbal abuse. 'When I was at Northants, going from second team to first team cricket, I had a wake-up call. I was not scoring runs. You start getting chat from the opposition and stuff, trying to get in your head. That brought me back in my shell a little bit. Are you as good as you are?' A breakthrough 145 against Surrey in late 2022 restored his confidence. 'I think my best stats are against Surrey…' he says, listing 648 runs, five fifties, and two centuries against them.
Gay finished 2022 with 825 runs, then surpassed 1000 in 2024 with 1019 runs at 53.63, earning a move to Durham. Even while Durham were relegated last season, Gay delivered four Championship hundreds. Despite progress, doubts persist; he recalled feeling nervous against Kent two weeks ago, revisiting his pair against Nottinghamshire at the start of 2024. 'It was up there with the most nervous I've been.'