England opener Gay set to be fit for Pakistan Test

Opener Emilio Gay is set to be fit for England's first Test against Pakistan next week.

The 27-year-old will play for a Professional County Club (PCC) Select XI in a four-day game against the tourists at Beckenham on Wednesday, a sure sign he will take his place in the England team at Headingley on 19 August.

Gay retired hurt with a shoulder problem when playing for Durham in their One-Day Cup game against Middlesex last Friday.

The left-hander had a scan on Saturday, revealing no serious damage.

It was initially thought he would not play in Beckenham, but instead travel to the match to be around the medical team for further treatment and assessment.

However, he will now tune up for the Test in his first red-ball match since the series against New Zealand concluded at the end of June.

As one of the England Test team not taking part in The Hundred, Gay's appearance for the PCC XI was planned before he suffered the shoulder injury.

Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir will also play at Beckenham.

Gay's fitness is welcome news for England, who had already been forced into a reshuffle following the retirement of former captain Ben Stokes and a knee injury to Jacob Bethell that has forced the batter out of the three-Test series.

Jordan Cox will take Bethell's place at number three, while Dan Lawrence will bat at six and bowl his off-spin as England make a first attempt to balance their team without Stokes.

England are likely to field four frontline seamers at Headingley, probably Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Ollie Robinson.

While Tongue and Atkinson could be playing in the latter stages of The Hundred over the weekend, Archer was rested from Southern Brave's final game against Trent Rockets on Monday.

With Brave already eliminated, it means Archer has more than a week off before the first Test.

Like Gay and Bashir, Robinson has not been part of The Hundred. Robinson's wife is due to give birth to their first child, but England are planning for the 32-year-old to be available at Headingley.

These plans can change quickly. England named Jamie Smith in their XI for the second Test against New Zealand at The Oval in June, only for Smith to pull out following the birth of his second child.

Headingley will mark the return of Joe Root as full-time captain, while Marcus Trescothick acts as interim head coach before Stephen Fleming takes charge for the winter tour of South Africa.

New Zealander Fleming will arrive in the UK in September, but there is no clarification on whether he will be here before the end of the Pakistan series.