Emilio Gay scored a century on his County Championship return for Durham, as they dominated the opening day of their final match of the season against Lancashire.
Gay, who bats at No.3 for Durham below Alex Lees and Ben McKinney, came to the crease in the third over of the game after Lees was caught behind for three. He built a 124-run partnership with England top-order prospect McKinney, who fell for 71 just before the lunch interval.
From there, Gay went on to bring up three figures, batting alongside India international Mayank Agarwal, getting to the milestone off 156 balls. He went on to make 141 before he was dismissed by Ben Walkden in the evening session.
ONE HUNDRED on his Durham first-class return. 👊#ForTheNorth pic.twitter.com/q0bWqgA0jr
— Durham Cricket (@DurhamCricket) September 24, 2026
The century is the first for Gay since he was called up to England's Test side at the start of the summer. Prior to that, he made three hundreds in the first four matches of the Championship season as he pressed his case for selection.
Gay featured in all of England's six Test matches this summer, with mixed returns. He scored a half-century on debut against New Zealand at Lord's, and passed 50 again in the second Test of the series at The Oval. However, he made a top score of 33 in his next three innings, and showed a pattern of being dismissed caught behind the wicket. He finished the summer with 60 in the first innings of England's last Test against Pakistan, but was pinned by Mohammad Abbas for a duck in the second innings.
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With Jacob Bethell set to come in, and Jordan Cox having impressed at No.3 against Pakistan, Gay is not certain to keep his place as opener for England's next Test assignment against South Africa. If Dan Lawrence stays in the XI as a spin-bowling allrounder, England will only have room for two of Cox, Bethell and Gay.
Durham, who have already been crowned Division Two Champions and secured promotion for next year, passed 300 by the end of day one against Lancashire, with Agarwal also making a half-century. Lancashire last won a Championship game in April, and are in competition with Gloucestershire for last place in the table.
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