Emilio Gay has revealed that he was approached by the West Indies for a Test spot, but he turned them down to continue his pursuit of an England call-up.
I want to play for England: Emilio Gay
The Durham batter has displayed good form in the ongoing County Championship season, putting himself firmly in the discussions for the opening slot on the England Test side. In three matches, he has scored 344 runs at 86.00, with two hundreds.
He had amassed 954 runs at 45.42, including four hundreds, in division one in 2025, which was his first full season with Durham. Gay was also part of the England Lions’ touring party to Australia in the winter, scoring two half-centuries in three matches.
On the back of his consistent performances, the top-order batter was approached by the West Indies to play Test cricket for them. Gay was born in Bedford and then rose through the ranks at Northamptonshire, but as his father’s family came to the UK from Grenada, he is also eligible to play for the West Indies.
“Don't know when it was,” he told Talk Sport. “Maybe just before the Lions, in the winter time? It was maybe about eight months ago, ten months ago. Someone from the [West Indies] board got in touch and opened the invitation to potentially look to play Test cricket. Look, obviously I wanted to play for England but it was actually the West Indies side of things that got me really into the sport when I was really young.
“I went to Grenada with my family – my dad's family are from Grenada – 2007, went to the World Cup. Watched some cricket, Dwayne Bravo signed a shirt and I really fell in love with the game. Obviously, of course, everyone knows about the 80s and all of that but my family, my grandparents and all of that, they loved cricket. So that really got me into the sport and then I grew up then following people like Joe Root and things like that.”
Gay recalled his discussion with a West Indies selector, saying he had to turn down the approach respectfully since he wanted to play for England.
“There was no heads up,” he recalled, “it was just a WhatsApp call from one of the selectors and it was just one of those where it's hard to go like, 'No, I don't want to play for West Indies,' because I've got a lot of my grandparents who were part of the family, that have passed away, who would've gone mad at that phone call. So I had to be very respectful of course, but I want to play for England. I want to play in the Ashes or at the top level.
“And I am English at the end of the day. I went to Bedford School, where Alastair Cook went to school and I'm born and bred in Bedford. So it was a short-ish conversation, but it was still nice to hear that people are looking and rate you as a player.”
Gay made his international debut for Italy in 2024, playing three T20Is for them at the T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier. He scored a 21-ball 50 against Scotland in the tournament, helping the Azzurri qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
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