Emilio Gay discusses an emotional day after he received his first England call up for their opening Test match against New Zealand.
When asked how he learned of the news, Gay said, “This morning, Marcus North rang me at about 8 o’clock. He kind of woke me up actually, I snoozed in. He called to give me the good news that I’ve been picked for England so it was an emotional conversation.
“I was in Durham and my parents are in Bedford so I drove back and gave them the news so it’s been a pretty surreal day and one I have dreamt of for a long time.”
He continued, “I didn’t want to ring them, because we’ve been through so much I though I’ve got to be there and tell them. So I drove back to Bedford, we’ve got to be in Beckenham tomorrow so I tried to intertwine the two.
“My brother helped me out, he videoed me telling them and that was a moment we’ll never forget. It was a really good day.”
Gay concluded, “I think red ball cricket is the pinnacle, Test cricket is the ultimate. Playing Test cricket for England is always something I’ve seen as the absolute pinnacle of the game so I can’t wait to hopefully get out there at Lord’s in three weeks time.”