Even by English Test cricket standards, 2026 proved an eventful summer.

It started with recriminations and a ‘reset’ following the disastrous Ashes tour, and ended with Joe Root – believed to be reluctant to return to captaincy – embarking on his second crack at the job along with a new incoming head coach in Stephen Fleming.

Few would have envisaged then, following the turmoil caused by Ben Stokes’ sudden mid-Test retirement at Trent Bridge and the subsequent removal of Brendon McCullum from his post after defeat to New Zealand, that England would head into a challenging winter assignment against World Test Champions South Africa with what appears to be a settled starting XI.

Following Fleming’s recent remarks in which he more than insinuated that Dan Lawrence will likely remain as the frontline spin option for the Proteas’ series, largely owing to England’s preference for a four-man seam attack that served them particularly well against an admittedly below par Pakistan, it appears the only selection debate will be whether a fit again Jacob Bethell will be reinstated at first drop in place of Jordan Cox.

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Frailties at the top remain for England?

England will welcome such stability, though one problem that is still to be fully resolved is at the top of the order.

Awarding Emilio Gay a Central Contract for 2027 appears to be an endorsement of faith in his ability to nail down an opening spot but following an unconvincing summer which resulted in him averaging 24.64 from his first six Test appearances, this upcoming series feels a big one for the Durham man.

There were plenty of promising signs; an off-side flair, three half-centuries and a patience to see off the new ball.

Unfortunately, they were interspersed with two visits where he didn’t trouble the scorers and on more than one occasion he succumbed to those softest of dismissals…being strangled down the leg-side.

The endearing 26-year-old, who attended the same private school as England’s last great opener Sir Alastair Cook, has felt like a bit of a conundrum since joining Durham in 2025 after six years at Northamptonshire.

He impressed in his first season in the North-East; no batter made more centuries in Division One (4), but on the other end of the scale no top-order batter also made more ducks (5).

Three early season centuries in 2026, including an impressive unbeaten 159 to help Durham chase down 336 against Lancashire, led the England selectors to believe he may be more feast than famine and hand out a debut international cap against New Zealand in June.

A specialist role lacking in specialists

While many feel it appropriate that he is given an extended run in the side to show his worth – let’s not forget that the much-maligned Zak Crawley played 64 Test matches before England finally lost patience – there is also the feeling in many quarters that the cupboard of opening batters is so bare, that dropping Gay would see no discernible improvement with his replacement.

This is not an isolated issue, indeed across world cricket, opening the batting seems to be a harder task than ever.

You only have look at Australia who seem to be trying a new combination every other Test in the hope of finding a pairing that can survive beyond the first hour of an innings.

Gay’s next challenge will be his toughest yet, facing up to the fiery pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen – the latter recently elevated to number one in the Test bowling rankings – as well as the wily spin of Simon Harmer.

Should he continue to produce modest returns, where does that leave England?

Who could England turn to next?

In terms of sheer volume of runs at county level, there are no outstanding candidates to challenge for the left-hander’s place.

Asa Tribe’s stock was high when the 2026 season started, but a move to open the innings for Glamorgan did him no favours until a late season flurry with two big centuries saw him finally demonstrate his ability in Division One.

Talks of recalls for consistent run-makers Haseeb Hameed and Dom Sibley were tempered when their form last summer proved to be steady rather than spectacular, and a regression on previous years.

There is also a the feeling that, particularly in the case of Sibley, his game remains not expansive enough to keep the scoreboard ticking over at Test level. A strike rate of 42.65 last season reinforces that point.

As such, it would not be a huge surprise to see the Bethell-Cox debate end in both of them being selected, and likely Bethell asked to partner Ben Duckett as he did in the ODI series against India.

The one most likely to have caught the eye of the England selectors, is someone that has been on their radar since 2024 when he was first called into the England Lions set-up, following a stint as Under-19’s captain.

He is also someone that Gay will know particularly well.

Will Durham provide another solution?

Standing at 6ft 7’, Ben McKinney bears down on most.

The Sunderland-born left-hander is the latest talent from the Durham pipeline and appears likely to provide the long-term threat to Gay’s spot.

Outside of the North-East, it is a lesser-known fact that Gay has spent the majority of his time batting at No. 3 for Durham. It may be even lesser known that the reason for that is 22-year-old McKinney.

Gay, who regularly opened in First-Class cricket for Northamptonshire, has found his opportunities to open the batting for Durham limited to when McKinney has been unavailable.

The genial giant also shares some traits with former England man Crawley (bear with me here).

Beyond the towering height, he similarly possesses the ability to dispatch anything full, slightly wide, and “in the slot” to the boundary, with the willow on leather sound not too dissimilar to a shotgun being fired.

At times, he has also shared the rather frustrating and, eventually for Crawley’s international career, fatal flaw of getting out to innocuous deliveries, bad shots or a combination of the two.

However, that appeared to be somewhat ironed out during the 2026 campaign when he surpassed the 1,000 County Championship run-mark for the first time in his career.

Perhaps more eye-catching though, was how he scored those runs.

Saif Zaib (72.60) was the only English batter to score his runs at a healthier strike rate than McKinney’s 71.80.

No batter hit more sixes than his 16 and no Englishman struck more fours – the closest to McKinney’s total of 144 was James Bracey’s 132 who had six more innings across the season.

An imposing talent

Another statistic that will not have gone unnoticed is when registering his three hundreds throughout the 2026 campaign, he went big every time.

244 at Gloucestershire, 184 at home to Middlesex and 140 away at Derbyshire showed that to use an old Ken Barrington phrase “When he booked in, he booked in for bed and breakfast.”

Throw in a 153 made the previous season against Warwickshire and you get the feel for a young player who can convert his good starts into a match-defining innings.

Some naysayers will point to Division Two bowling attacks but this didn’t deter the England selectors from giving Gay an opportunity.

And not many will have greater awareness of the talents of “Big Ben” than current England Lead Selector, Marcus North, fresh into the role after eight years as Durham’s Director of Cricket.

Despite sharing another Crawley trait, a beaming smile that suggests the innocence of a choirboy, here lies a batter that naturally likes to assert dominance over bowlers.

He is quick to assess length and is particularly strong off the front foot, with a knack for coming down the track to spinners and looking to hit over the top.

While he has played more sedate knocks for Durham which have displayed a defence that is solid rather than unbreakable, they usually have the feel of a man batting in the proverbial straight jacket – a completely unnatural act for a man who when on top, can punish all types of bowling and move his score along at a rate more associated with the limited overs format.

Strong Durham, strong England?

There is a well-received feeling amongst England fans that Root and Fleming will oversee a style of cricket that is less ‘Bazball’ and a more measured approach aligned with traditional Test cricket standards, however you can’t help but feel that McKinney has the hallmarks of the modern Test opener.

What appears a thankless task these days, has more recently seen success in the more attacking nature; David Warner (when kept away from Stuart Broad), Yashasvi Jaiswal and Duckett have all succeeded by playing their more natural expansive games.

Gay became the 13th player to be capped at Test level by England while playing for Durham, not bad for a county that were only admitted to the professional game in 1992.

In that time, their much-lauded academy has provided two England captains, four World Cup winners, a number one ranked Test bowler and the best English all-rounder since Sir Ian Botham.

They may also be about to solve England’s long-standing issue at the top of the order.

Whatever the South Africa series brings, Gay may find that that his biggest threat comes from very close to home.