Northamptonshire ace Sales gets his chance to shine for England in Sri Lanka

Northamptonshire head coach John Sadler says all-rounder James Sales fully deserves his chance to shine for England Under-19s on the tour to Sri Lanka, which starts next Tuesday.
Northamptonshire all-rounder James SalesNorthamptonshire all-rounder James Sales
Northamptonshire all-rounder James Sales

Sales travelled to Colombo with the rest of the squad earlier this week, and will have seven days to acclimatise before playing the first of five one-day internationals against Sri Lanka on Tuesday (Nov 30).

The 18-year-old was deservedly named in coach Richard Dawson’s squad, being rewarded for a breakthrough summer at the County Ground that saw him end the season in the first team in both the Royal London One Day Cup and LV= Insurance County Championship.

Indeed, he gave up the chance of making his England U19 debut in September to instead play first-class cricket for Northants, but has thankfully been quickly offered a second opportunity.

“It is absolutely fantastic,” said Sadler. “To represent your country at under-19s is great and it is a great honour for James that he deserves.

“He will learn so much on the trip which will stand him in good stead for the future.

“Playing cricket in another country, playing international cricket, the whole thing will be an amazing experience for him.

“He will have the full support from us as a club, it will be great for him and I will look forward to chatting to him about it when he gets back to see what he has learned, and see what his experiences were.”

Sales, who is a seam bowling all-rounder and the son of former County captain David, is also now in prime position to win himself a place in the England squad for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

That is being held in the Caribbean in January, and England have been grouped with Bangladesh, Canada and United Arab Emirates, being based in Saint Kitts & Nevis.

“If there is ever an incentive to do well on this tour it is that you could be going to Caribbean in January and getting some more sunshine while playing in a World Cup,” said Sadler, who took over as head coach at Wantage Road in October.

“It is great for Salesy, and he is really excited to be going.”

Young Lions head coach Dawson, a former Yorkshire, Northants and England spinner, said: “We are looking forward to touring Sri Lanka in what should be a challenging and exciting five-match ODI series.

“It’s a great opportunity for our squad to experience touring the sub-continent.

“It will give them a chance to play in a pressurised environment against their international peers in unfamiliar conditions.

“This trip is an integral part of their future development and will also provide good preparation leading into the ICC Men’s U19s World Cup in the Caribbean starting in January 2022.”

England U19 tour of Sri Lanka itinerary: 1st ODI – Sri Lanka v England, Tuesday 30 November 2021, SSC Ground, Colombo; 2nd ODI - Sri Lanka v England, Friday 3

December 2021, SSC Ground, Colombo; 3rd ODI - Sri Lanka v England, Sunday 5 December 2021, SSC Ground, Colombo; 4th ODI - Sri Lanka v England, Wednesday 8 December 2021, SSC Ground, Colombo; 5th ODI – Sri Lanka v England, Friday 10 December 2021, SSC Ground, Colombo

England U19 squad: Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire); Tom Aspinwall (Lancashire); Josh Baker (Worcestershire); Sonny Baker (Somerset); Nathan Barnwell (Surrey); George Bell (Lancashire); Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire); Josh Boyden (Lancashire); Ben Cliff (Yorkshire); James Coles (Sussex); Harry Crawshaw (Durham); Alex Horton (Glamorgan); Dan Ibrahim (Sussex); Will Luxton (Yorkshire); Tom Prest (Hampshire); James Rew (Somerset); James Sales (Northamptonshire); Fateh Singh (Nottinghamshire); George Thomas (Somerset)