Sales stakes claim with big knock

By Ted Corbett

LONDON, MAY 12. With the best timing of his blossoming career, David Sales, the Northamptonshire middle order batsman, completed yet another huge innings on Thursday. He has scored only seven centuries in the last four years, but three of those have topped 200 and at a time when few England batsmen are in great form he was creating all the headlines long before he passed 260 off the Nottinghamshire bowling on Thursday.

Sales, 22, will be high on the list of those the selectors want to replace the injured Michael Vaughan for the first Test against Zimbabwe at Lord's next week when the squad is announced by David Graveney, chairman of selectors, at Headingley. By the time Sales finished with 276 it appeared that he was favourite for an England place.

But there will be an argument; Sales will always court controversy and now that Brian Lara - another controversial cricketer - has decided he can make the tour later this summer after all the selectors will be cautious about picking a novice to face the West Indies.

The selectors sent Sales to Bangladesh and New Zealand with the `A' team, but he was overshadowed by the showy Vikram Solanki who, in contrast to Sales, has more fans than critics, but nothing like as many spectacular innings.

Still there is a chance that Graveney, Nasser Hussain, the captain, and Duncan Fletcher, the coach, will gamble on Sales against Zimbabwe, the worst of the Test teams and unable to get enough practice on this tour.

Their other option is to promote another big lad, the 6ft 4in, Andrew Flintoff, who has been batting at No. 3 for Lancashire after its coach Bobby Simpson, the former Australian captain, coach and selector, urged him to cut back on his haymaking strokes and get his head down.

They may pick: Nasser Hussain (captain), Nick Knight, Mike Atherton, Mark Ramprakash, Graeme Hick, Alec Stewart, Andrew Flintoff, David Sales, Craig White, Andrew Caddick, Darren Gough, Steve Harmison and Chris Schofield.

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