It will be a moment of personal pride for one Staffordshire cricketer when Emilio Gay makes his England Test debut tomorrow.
The Durham left-handed batsman has been the beneficiary of England’s poor Ashes campaign by being called into the side for this summer’s opener against New Zealand.
And when the 26-year-old walks out of the England dressing room at Lord’s this week, down two flights of stairs and through the historic Long Room on to the hallowed turf, it will be the latest chapter in his cricket journey.
It’s been a steady rise for Gay… and Staffordshire spinner Tom Brett was present at the start of Gay’s cricket journey as a schoolboy – helping to nurture his ability to help the youngster to chase his dream of being an England cricketer.
Brett coached Gay during his time at Bedford School – and admits that it’s little surprise that his former pupil has gone on to the highest level.
‘Working hard’
“He was part of the under-15 group in 2015 and then I took him for most of his first-team cricket at the school before he left in 2018,” said Brett.
“Emilio always wanted to improve. His dad would take him down to Bedford Cricket Club at 6am to throw balls at him – and then he’d have one-to-one coaching as well.
“He had that work ethic and, crucially, always backed himself. He was a confident lad, but in a good way.
“Emilio possessed a good technique and, like Sir Alastair Cook, didn’t want to ‘give it away’. He had that hunger to go on and make really big scores.”
Cook is Bedford School’s most famous alumni – but there are other Staffordshire links to the school.
Current county captain James Kettleborough broke Cook’s record for the most runs in an individual season.
And Gay himself has also sampled life in Staffs, having played for Whitmore in 2021 and Checkley in 2022 – unsurprisingly starring with bat and ball.
That formed part of his elevation to the Test side, which saw him join the Northamptonshire Academy at under-15 level before signing pro with the ‘Shoe Army’.
‘International pick’
He’s since transferred up to Durham, where his performances singled him out as the man to replace Zak Crawley as Ben Duckett’s England opening partner.
“It’s quite ironic that Emilio has replaced Zak. It was back in 2016 when we played against Tonbridge School and they were facing each other,” said Brett who is now back coaching at Bedford after a spell at Stamford School.
“They both managed to get runs in that particular game as well.
“You could tell from that very early age that Emilio was special. Work rate is one thing, but having that belief in yourself is another.
“He always said that eventually he wanted to progress to playing for England.
“In schoolboy cricket, people quite often get to 30 and then get out. That wasn’t the case with Emilio, he was just so hungry to get big scores.
“At 16, 17, 18 he was getting some really big hundreds. And the way he committed to training was exceptional, so you knew that he had a chance.”
‘Chance to shine’
Gay has played T20 cricket for Italy, but is now preparing himself for the biggest game of his career.
He heads into the Lord’s Test in prime form having accumulated 552 runs in nine innings for Durham in County Championship Division Two at an average of 78.85.
“I saw Emilio at a training facility through school the other week and it was great to catch up with him,” added Brett.
‘Staffs have the platform to push on in NCCA T20 Cup mission’
“Emilio is normally so cool when he goes out to bat, but he’s said that he might have to manage a few nerves.
“That’s part and parcel of it, but it will be amazing to see him play for England and I’m sure he will do well.
“Since he moved up to Durham (in 2024) his strike rate has nudged up, so it’s like he’s been adapting his game to a more ‘Bazball’ style to put himself in contention.”
‘Backing’
Brett may have played a small part in Gay’s journey – and says as a bowler, it can help to coach batters.
And he says he had simple messages for a young Emilio when he was at Bedford School.
“My main message to him as a young cricketer was just to empower him,” explained Brett.
“As a spinner, I like coaching batters because you can almost tell them what you don’t want to happen to yourself.
“Pace on the ball, Emilio was always really comfortable, so we worked on how he played spin.
“When the field was up, it was challenging him to be brave and go over the top. There was a time when he ran past one and was stumped, but I said ‘I don’t care, you’ve outlined your intentions’.
“He’s taken that forward into his professional career and you will now see him taking on the spinners in Championship matches.
“Another big thing was not to give Emilio mixed messages. He joined Northants while still at school, so it was important to dovetail with them to make sure we were all on the same page.”
‘Trophy trail’
But while Brett will be keeping one eye on how his former pupil fares at the Home of Cricket over the next few days, the slow left-armer has his own big game to negotiate.
Brett is in the Staffordshire squad travelling to take on Cumbria at Carlisle on Sunday in the NCCA NV Play Trophy quarter-finals.
It’s a big deal for Staffs after failing to qualify from the group stages for the previous three seasons.
Date announced for former players’ day
Staffordshire bucked the trend by beating Lincolnshire in a winner-takes-all final group game to progress as runners-up.
And now Brett wants to extend their run in the 50-over competition.
“It’s a massive opportunity for us,” he said. “The guys are in a really good place at the moment.
“The T20s have started well and we won three on the bounce in the 50-over format to qualify.
“Fingers crossed we can continue on our journey.”
Main image: Staffordshire left-arm spinner Tom Brett was England Test debutant Emilio Gay’s coach at Bedford School. Picture: David Peters