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 has held since. 2006 was another productive year for Sales as he scored over 1200 runs in the Championship, and he bettered that in 2007 with 1384, but he couldn't lead his side to any success in the second division and handed over the reigns before the 2008 season.
Martin Williamson January 2008