Gay broke into England’s XI this summer, replacing opener Zak Crawley for the New Zealand series, but was forced to retire hurt during a One-Day Cup match against Middlesex at Chester-le-Street. The left-hander initially felt discomfort in his right shoulder in the sixth over before hurting it further at the start of the seventh when striking a crisp straight drive off Toby Roland-Jones. A member of Durham’s medical team immediately came out to check on Gay before escorting him off the field on 9 from 17 balls.
Gay registered two half-centuries in the 2-1 defeat to New Zealand, and was part of a new-look 16-man squad to face Pakistan, starting at Headingley on August 19. With Jacob Bethell rule out of the series with a right knee injury, and Ben Stokes’ international retirement, Jordan Cox and Dan Lawrence were picked to bat at Nos. 3 and 6 respectively.
Now, England could be on the hunt for opening cover if Gay’s injury is found to be serious. New Test head coach Stephen Fleming, though only taking full charge of the side at the end of the summer, was involved in the selection process, along with returning captain Joe Root. The pair, along with men’s selector Marcus North and managing director Rob Key, may be forced to reconnect to identify further candidates.
Somerset’s James Rew made his debut in the second Test against New Zealand but has opened just once in his career, earlier this summer. Crawley, a mainstay during the previous era under Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, has stepped away from first-class cricket after torrid start to the County Championship, with 226 runs across 12 innings for Kent in Division Two, averaging 20.54.
