There seems to be no end to England cricket team’s opening woes when it comes to the longest format of the game. After the prolonged failure of Zak Crawley at the top of the order, England decided to give domestic performer Emilio Gay a chance in the ENG vs NZ 1st Test at Lord’s. However, the new opener lasted for just 14 deliveries on his debut for England as he was sent packing by Kyle Jamieson.
Gay flops on England debut
Gay edged a delivery off Jamieson to the first slip, giving Daryll Mitchell to take an easy catch to bring the curtains down on his debut innings quickly. He managed to score just 8 runs off 14 deliveries before he was sent packing by the Kiwi pacer. Despite striking a boundary off his very first delivery in international cricket, the batter couldn’t keep himself at the crease for long.
Gay, who has performed consistently in domestic cricket over the last few years, has 4702 runs from 73 matches, at an average of 39.84, and has scored 13 hundreds and 18 fifties so far. Talking about the ENG vs NZ 1st Test, New Zealand won the toss and decided to bowl first at the Lord’s.
After making his T20 debut in 2019, Gay went on to make his List A and first-class debuts in 2021. He is majorly a red-ball player and has tasted maximum success in the longest format of the game. Unfortunately, he was unable to translate his fine form in his maiden outing for England. Gay’s debut didn’t come as a surprise as England director Rob Key had confirmed earlier that Emilio will open the innings with Duckett.
Despite given a long rope as an opener and having amassed over 3000 runs while batting at the top of the order, Zak Crawley was dropped for the series against England, especially after a lacklusture performance in the Ashes. The former England opener fared poorly in the Ashes, averaging just 27.30.
| Runs | Inns | Opposition |
|---|---|---|
| 124 | 1 | v Zimbabwe |
| 4 | 2 | v India |
| 65 | 4 | v India |
| 19 | 2 | v India |
| 0 | 4 | v India |
| 18 | 1 | v India |
| 22 | 3 | v India |
| 84 | 2 | v India |
| 64 | 2 | v India |
| 14 | 4 | v India |
| 0 | 1 | v Australia |
| 0 | 3 | v Australia |
| 76 | 1 | v Australia |
| 44 | 3 | v Australia |
| 9 | 2 | v Australia |
| 85 | 4 | v Australia |
| 5 | 2 | v Australia |
| 37 | 4 | v Australia |
ENG vs NZ 1st Test playing XIs
England: Emilio Gay, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (c), Gus Atkinson, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
New Zealand: Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, William ORourke
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