The hard-hitting David Sales was a precocious talent, playing for his county and England as a teenager, and his first-class career began in spectacular fashion when he cracked 210 not out against Worcestershire in 1996 aged 18 - the youngest person to score a Championship double hundred. But, inexplicably, for a couple of seasons thereafter he frustrated even his most ardent supporters with inconsistency and mediocre returns.

In 1999 he finally broke through, scoring 1291 runs at 51.64, and in 2000-01 he went to the Caribbean with the England A side. It wasn't a happy experience - he sustained a serious knee injury playing beach volleyball after a good start to the tour and missed the entire 2001 season. He returned, but not exactly with a bang, in 2002, but again showed his better side in 2003 when he narrowly missed out on 1000 runs. He was appointed county captain for the 2004 season, a role he held until stepping down in 2010.

Even in his mid-thirties, Sales remained a prized scalp for county bowlers, with his buccaneering strokeplay capable of enriching any afternoon. He toyed with leaving the county, Northants toyed with puttinh him out to pasture, neither quite occurred. But a first-class average just the wrong side of 40 spoke of a somewhat unfulfilled talent - and explains why, despite years of speculation, he never quite earned an England cap.
ESPNcricinfostaff - April 2013