England opener Emilio Gay should retain his spot for their winter tour of South Africa, according to former captain Sir Alastair Cook.

Gay made a Test-best 60 from 114 balls to blunt Pakistan’s attack which helped England seize control on day one at Edgbaston.

The 26-year-old left-hander’s tally of 261 runs, at an average of 26.1, might not look particularly eye-catching.

But in an English summer where ball has dominated bat – Ben Duckett is England’s only centurion in six home Tests so far – the Durham left-hander has shown a willingness to grind it out.

Cook, who made almost 12,000 runs as an opener for England, has been impressed with the character the Durham left-hander has shown to make tough runs at the top of the order.

“I think Emilio Gay’s played really nicely. I would say he’s confident and intense,” Cook told Test Match Special.

“He is definitely a run-getter when he gets in. He seems to have that real stubborn and strong will to make it count if he can.

“He has done enough for me to take him to South Africa to continue the progress of a player where the pitches will be slightly easier to bat on and he should open the batting.”

According to CricViz, Gay has left or defended 61% of the pace deliveries he’s faced since his debut against New Zealand in June.

Dom Sibley in 2020 (68% left or defended) was the last English opener to register a higher percentage in a home summer.

During his innings on Wednesday, Gay left or defended 65 deliveries and Cook “likes how late he defends the ball” with a patient approach to more attacking strokeplay.

Gay scored the first 12 runs of his half-century off 43 balls before his next 38 came off 52 balls.

He hit nine fours and has scored 68% of his Test runs in boundaries – the joint-highest of any England batter with at least 250 runs in the red-ball format.

“If you take Gay’s innings, and what I’ve seen of him, he’s not hunting that drive too often. He waits for it to come into there,” added Cook.

“He scores off the back foot through the off side as well. He scored through the leg side and timed them through mid-wicket so he does have an all-round game. He’s not limited to the off side.”

Given Pakistan’s flimsy batting – bowled out for 133 in their first innings here – it could end up being Gay’s final Test innings of the summer.

With Jacob Bethell set to return for the tour of South Africa following injury, the selection of a top-order batter for the winter is likely to be a scrap between Jordan Cox, Dan Lawrence and Gay for two places.

Only Harry Brook (six occasions) has passed 30 more times than Gay (five) during a challenging summer for batters.

Although Gay has struggled to play back of a length bowling with seven dismissals in the 7-9 metre length range which has highlighted a potential weakness.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan said Gay “played nicely” but might reflect on an missed opportunity to reach three figures for the first time after he dragged on a delivery from Razaullah Khan.

“Emilio Gay found his balance early. He had it hard at the start and then he found his flow,” Vaughan said.

“He’ll be really disappointed to get out for 60. He’ll be desperate to get his first Test match century and I thought it was on today.

“That extra little bit of pace from Razaullah and a little lack of concentration at the end of the day has cost him.”

England seamer Josh Tongue said Gay’s rigorous preparation has helped him develop the necessary powers of concentration for Test cricket.

“The one thing I’ve seen in Emilio is he trains really hard in the nets. He’ll bat for ages, putting a lot of hard work in, and it’s shown on the pitch,” added Tongue.

“Even last week at Lord’s, he had two quite horrible dismissals, but I felt today he batted unbelievable on a tricky pitch.

“He was obviously really disappointed with how he got out. It’s not a nice feeling, chopping on, but he’s put the team in a really good position for tomorrow.”