Emilio Gay in line for Durham debut as he heads to north east on loan deal

The left-hander was due to switch to the north east at the end of the campaign anyway, having signed a three-year deal at Chester-le-Street.

But with injury ruling Durham skipper Scott Borthwick out for the rest of the summer, Gay has been allowed to leave the County Ground and join his new club early.

He has been in the north east for the past week to train with his new team-mates, and even fielded as 12th man in Durham’s clash with Lancashire last week.

Gay is in line to make his debut for Durham in Tuesday's Vitality County Championship Division One clash with title hopefuls Surrey at the Oval.

Durham currently sit safely in fifth place in the top flight table.

"It feels great to be here," Gay told Durham Cricket's YouTube channel. "I got up here last week and all the lads have been great, it has been good to meet everyone.

"I didn't know many of the lads coming in, but they have all been super welcoming and it seems like they are a great bunch of lads, a really tight-knit group.

"The coaches have been so good to me as well, and it has been better than I could have imagined.

"I have been in around practice, facing some bowlers which has been good, getting a bit of outdoor practice and everything has been top drawer."

Gay makes the move having been out of favour at Northants since he last played in the Championship defeat at Middlesex on August 25.

He was left out of the abandoned four-day match against Gloucestershire at Bristol and then overlooked for the Steelbacks Vitality T20 Blast quarter-final with Somerset.

Following head coach John Sadler's sacking, Gay was also left out of last week's win over Derbyshire, and it has now been confirmed he has played his final match in a Northants shirt.

Gay leaves the club having scored 919 Championship runs this season, including a century and a double century.