Could the next England player be an Italy international?
Durham's Emilio Gay certainly hopes so, with the left-hander looking to make his way into Ben Stokes' ranks in 2025 and focusing on improving his white-ball game to do so.
Bedford-born Gay qualifies for Italy through his mother and played in four 50-over games for the Azzurri in November, hitting half-centuries in each of them with a world-class 96 against Tanzania.
Gay moved to Durham on loan in 2024 ahead of a permanent move over the winter
With Italy not a full member of the ICC, those performances will not stand in the way of him representing his native England – and the best player is frustrated that he has not already done so.
Gay made 1,019 runs in the County Championship in 2024, hitting 919 in 10 Division 2 Northamptonshire matches and then another 100 in two Division 1 matches for Durham, a team he initially joined on loan before making a permanent switch over the winter.
The highlight was an innings of 261 for Northants against Middlesex.
Yet when England needed extra batting in New Zealand due to Jamie Smith's paternity leave, Gay was overlooked in favor of Jacob Bethell, a player with zero red-ball hundreds compared to Gay's sixes and who has scored just 466 first-class runs this summer. .
Gay is disappointed not to be included in England
Bethell of course showed the supreme talent he possesses against the Black Capshitting three half-centuries from third and looking every inch the Test player, but Zach Crowley's lack of form at the top of the order may have given Gay a sniff of the call.
So where does he think he stands in the pecking order?
Gay, 24, said Sky Sports: “(England men's coach) Luke Wright approached me in August about the Lions – I think I just missed the red ball game against Sri Lanka.
“I'm an honest person and I'm naturally disappointed that I wasn't involved in some sort of England squad or Lions tour this winter.
“I'm aware they've taken a slightly different route when it comes to picking younger players, but I've just made 1,000 runs and had a couple of good seasons before that.
Gay scored 261 for Northants against Middlesex in the 2024 County Championship
“I really feel like I'm at that point in my career where I'm fighting for those top three spots in Test cricket but for whatever reason I haven't been picked for anything.
“It's hard at times when you're in your 60s on average and I'd like to understand a bit more why some things happened but it's out of my control.
“I certainly don't want to knock what other people have done because there are some really talented players that have gotten into this baseball way very quickly.
My strike rate went up. I was more positive in my thinking and embraced the game a little more. I've always had an appetite for scoring runs and hitting long, I just lacked that bit more consistency, but I found that this year with fifties between my hundreds.
'I'm looking to do things a little differently'
“All I can do is score runs, get hundreds and go about my business.
“Next season my aim is not necessarily to get over 1,000 runs, but to exceed what people expect from Emilio Gay, and I want to do things a bit differently.
“I was injured last year for most of the Vitality Blast and I think not playing T20 cricket has hurt my goals of playing Test cricket a bit, especially with the way England are playing at the moment.
“My goal was to dominate red ball cricket but now that I'm more established in county cricket I want to expand my white ball game. That was one of the reasons I chose to play for Italy.”
Gay followed up his unbeaten 96 against Tanzania with unbeaten innings of 57, 50 and 66 against Hong Kong, Uganda and Singapore, opening with former Australia star Joe Burns.
He added: “I saw it as a good opportunity to get to grips (in Uganda) and explore a bit, play with freedom when there wasn't a lot of pressure on the outcome. I'm really happy I went.
“The environment was great, it was fun, but it was also an opportunity to play with quality players. I learned something from him.
“(Kent's) Grant Stewart and (former Middlesex, Hampshire and Northamptonshire all-rounder) Gareth Berg were there too, so we had some really good cricket brains.
“The boys are coming back into the 2026 T20 World Cup qualifiers and I think they have a really good chance. I was surprised by how much skill there was in the camp.”
'Moving from Durham was the best thing for my career'
Gay did not rule out a return to playing for Italy, but stressed that his ultimate goal was to secure an England call-up, stating that was the main reason he swapped Northants for Durham.
Bješac, who is also looking to improve his pitch and athleticism over the winter, said: “Durham have produced a lot of England players over the years and there are players in this dressing room with recent or current international experience.
“Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, Braydon Carrs, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson were called up by England for the New Zealand series, David Bedingham from South Africa.
“There are so many players in this club that I want to be in so that I can put myself in the best position to achieve my goals. There weren't many counties to look beyond Durham.
Gay says Durham's trend of producing English players was a key factor in his move to Chester-le-Street
“People say if it was a big and difficult decision to leave Northants, and parts of it were – my family is down there and it was disappointing to leave friends and memories behind. But I think this is the best thing for my career, so that is an easier decision.
“The exposure at Northampton probably wasn't as big as it is here in Division One with players from the English system.
“I remember getting a hundred against Surrey in Division 1 in 2022 against a top bowling attack and maybe those kind of knocks don't stand out as much in certain places.”