England opener Emilio Gay experienced a bittersweet start to his international red-ball career as he made his highly anticipated debut for England against New Zealand in the 1st of a 3-match Test series at the iconic Lord’s Stadium.
Emilio Gay was handed debut his cap by none other than England legend Sir Alastair Cook. Gay replaced Zak Crawley in the starting XI and the left-hander showed no signs of early nerves when he crunched a full toss from Kiwi quick Kyle Jamieson through the off-side for a boundary off the very first ball of his Test career.
pic.twitter.com/tpnbtXuJGx
First ball in Test cricket. First run on the board. Dream start achieved. 👏🏏✨It may have been a short stay, but Emilio Gay will always remember getting off the mark with his very first delivery in Test cricket. 📖🔥#TestCricket #EmilioGay…
— Third Man View (@3rdManView) June 4, 2026
However, the 6ft-tall bowler quickly extracted his revenge on the beautiful Lord’s surface. In the 6th over of the morning under dark skies, Jamieson adjusted his line beautifully, pitching the ball up and got just enough away movement up the pitch.
Kyle Jamieson to Emilio Gay #ENGvsNZ #Jamieson pic.twitter.com/AWXy40bVRC
— Tanuj (@Chris_gayle90) June 4, 2026
Gay was forced into a defensive stance and edged the ball straight to Daryl Mitchell at first slip, departing for just 8 runs off 14 deliveries.
England lose 5 wickets by session 2
Wickets kept falling for the hosts right after the departure of Emilio Gay at 8. His opening partner Ben Duckett was removed by Nathan Smith for 19 before Jacob Bethell (6), Joe Root (1) and Jamie Smith (1) all got out for cheap scores.
At the time of writing, vice-captain Harry Brook and skipper Ben Stokes were batting at 28 and 4 respectively.
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.
Kiwi skipper Tom Latham had won the toss and chose to bowl first.
