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

Gay's two centuries this year, the first of which came on the season's opening day, follow four in Division One in Durham's relegation season last year. One of those in 2025 came against champions Nottinghamshire and another against Surrey, who finished second. "Is he good enough? Quite possibly," said BBC Newcastle commentator Martin Emmerson, who has watched Gay throughout his Durham career. "Consistency is key, though. While he scored nearly 1,000 runs in Division One last season, there were also five ducks early in the year." Gay will have three more Championship matches to further press his case before England's hierarchy convenes to pick their squad for the first Test of the summer against New Zealand on 4 June. For the last two of those matches, against Worcestershire and the return at Kent, he will have Stokes in the dressing room, assuming the all-rounder's recovery from cheek surgery continues as planned. There are also two four-day Lions fixtures against South Africa A scheduled for late May, with England's players coming together for a camp in the week in between. Selections there may reveal plenty. The first Lions match may be when England get their wish in seeing 22-year-old left-hander James Rew face the new ball. He is another of the outstanding candidates despite his 379 runs at an average of 75.80 coming in Somerset's middle order. It is not inconceivable Rew, Gay and McKinney all line up against the Proteas second string. …