England opener Gay set to be fit for Pakistan Test

Opener Emilio Gay is expected to be fit for England's first Test against Pakistan next week. The 27-year-old will represent a Professional County Club (PCC) Select XI in a four-day match against the tourists at Beckenham on Wednesday. This game serves as confirmation that he will join the England team for the Headingley Test on August 19.

Gay sustained a shoulder injury while playing for Durham in a One-Day Cup game against Middlesex last Friday. After a scan on Saturday revealed no serious damage, initially it was presumed he wouldn't play in Beckenham. However, he will now prepare for the Test, his first since the New Zealand series concluded in June. Gay, along with off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, will participate in the PCC XI game.

England's current lineup, reshuffled due to the retirement of Ben Stokes and Jacob Bethell's knee injury, includes Jordan Cox, Dan Lawrence, and four frontline seamers: Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson, and Ollie Robinson. Archer may play in the latter stages of The Hundred, but he has a week off before the Test, unlike Gay and Bashir who are not part of The Hundred.

Robinson, whose wife is due to give birth, is also expected to be available at Headingley. Joe Root will return as captain, while Marcus Trescothick serves as interim head coach until Stephen Fleming assumes the role for the South Africa winter tour. Fleming will arrive in the UK in September, but her arrival before the end of the Pakistan series remains uncertain.