England's next opener? Durham's Gay stakes his claim

{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/englands-next-opener-durhams-gay-091817954.html","headline":"England's next opener? Durham's Gay stakes his claim","datePublished":"2026-04-28T09:43:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-28T09:43:52.000Z","keywords":["England","Emilio Gay","England","Gay","Lancashire","Ben Stokes","Ryan Campbell","Zak Crawley"],"description":"After his match-winning century for Durham, BBC Sport assesses whether Emilio Gay has the skills to be England's next Test opener.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo Sports","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/cv/apiv2/default/icons/favicon_y112_112.png","width":112,"height":112},"url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Matthew Henry - BBC Sport Journalist","url":"","jobTitle":""},"creator":{"@type":"Person","name":"Matthew Henry - BBC Sport Journalist","url":"","jobTitle":""},"provider":{"@type":"Organization","name":"BBC","url":"https://www.bbc.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":487,"height":100,"url":"https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2023-06/bde20910-1041-11ee-b7ff-2b001204ebc4"}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/kGykZKXyXPKxOKaLox5tSg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTI0MDA7aD0xMzUwO2NmPXdlYnA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/bbc_us_articles_995/1734a6db2e52f33fa986652ca7bf26cf","height":675,"width":1200},"thumbnailUrl":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/kGykZKXyXPKxOKaLox5tSg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTI0MDA7aD0xMzUwO2NmPXdlYnA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/bbc_us_articles_995/1734a6db2e52f33fa986652ca7bf26cf"}Story byEngland's next opener? Durham's Gay stakes his claim[Getty Images]Matthew Henry - BBC Sport JournalistTue, April 28, 2026 at 9:43 AM UTC·7 min readThe understated clench of a gloved fist and casual wave of the bat when reaching three figures did not hint at the significance of the moment, nor the repeat after flicking the runs to seal Durham's victory.But Emilio Gay's 159 not out may be the most consequential performance of this weekend in the County Championship.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_o3iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: none; } @media screen and (max-width: 767.95px) { #_R_o3iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: flex; } iframe { max-width: 100vw; } }It sealed a brilliant win against his side's Division Two title rivals Lancashire - it completed the third highest run-chase in Durham's first-class history - but also meant, for the second time this season, Gay ensured his name is the one being spoken about.If the subplot to these early season rounds is the contest to unseat Zak Crawley as England's Test opener, after captain Ben Stokes encouraged county players to demand selection with their form, then Gay has staked his claim.His century was his second in three matches this season. He could not have done much more to this point to answer Stokes' call.Gay may have been batting at number three against Lancashire, as he has done almost exclusively since moving from Northamptonshire before the start of last season, but he remains an opener by trade.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_o8iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: none; } @media screen and (max-width: 767.95px) { #_R_o8iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: flex; } iframe { max-width: 100vw; } }His place as Durham's number three is a happy compromise, given the county has captain Alex Lees, a former England opener, and the highly-rated…

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