Lehmann believes Sales can 'go better and bigger' after stunning Blast impact
"I must admit, I didn't think he would be that brilliant!"
Darren Lehmann has revealed even he was taken aback by James Sales' outstanding performance for the Northants Steelbacks in the Vitality Blast.
The 23-year-old was one of the star men as the County ended a 10-year wait for a major trophy with the stunning Finals Day win at Edgbaston.
Sales excelled on the big stage, bowling superbly in both the semi-final win over Somerset and the final success against Hampshire, where he claimed three for 25 from his four overs - bagging the prize wicket of James Vince along the way.
But it wasn't just on Finals Day that Sales shone.
His three wickets in the final took his competition tally to an exceptional 25 in 14 matches played, with a strike rate of a wicket every 11 balls bowled.
He finished third in the overall table, behind Yorkshire's Hasan Ali (27) and Hampshire's Scott Currie (26), and just ahead of Steelbacks team-mates Calvin Harrison (22) and Ben Sanderson (21).
And all this from a bowler who, prior to this season, had taken one wicket in his previous 10 T20 matches played!
Indeed, Sales only got his chance in the Blast at all this season because England Lions didn't want him for their opening four-day clash against South Africa A back in May.
Sales was instead released by coach Freddie Flintoff to join up with the Steelbacks for their Central & West Group opener against Glamorgan.
He got the nod to start from Lehmann and then bowled with pace and aggression to take one for 23 as the Steelbacks won by just three runs, and the rest is history!
Sales followed it up with three for 28 as Worcestershire were hammered in game two, before snaring career-best figures of five for 21 against Gloucestershire, and the right-arm seamer was suddenly a first-pick.
The son of former Northants skipper Davd, Sales brought something different to the attack, offering an extra yard of pace that surpised many batters.
He bowled fast and straight and developed a real golden arm, often getting that breakthrough when it was desperately needed.
He did it in both the semi-final and final at Edgbaston, dismissing a well-set Will Smeed as Somerset looked on course for victory, and then deceiving former England man Vince at the end of the powerplay in the final.
Sales was so impressive and key to the Blast success, that it could be argued he was the team's player of the tournament.
And Lehmann has admitted he knew he had a good player on his hands, but perhaps not as quite as good as he turned out to be!
When asked about Sales' contribution, the Australian said: "He has been unbelievable hasn't he?
"You have to evolve as a side, and from what I saw last year we were a bit shy on a bit of speed.
"James has a different type of trajectory, and he has a good slower ball, and I must admit I didn't think he would be that brilliant!
"To be fair, it was going to be a case of getting him a few games and maybe play half the tournament, but he just shot straight up and was fantastic.
"That's great, when you have a young kid that's going for it and now he gets to play The Hundred, and hopefully gets to play for higher honours, so I am pleased with his development as a T20 bowler.”
Sales has yet to feature for Manchester Super Giants in this season’s Hundred, with England men Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and speedster Sonny Baker keeping him sidelined, but Lehmann believes there is more to come from the former Overston Park man, and not just with the ball.
"Now we have to work on James’ batting, and that is something we always try to do, to improve players,” said the head coach.
"You have to find little gems in your squad to evolve, and we will now have to find gems next year, because you can't stand still.
"The game evolves very quickly as we know, and Salesy is one for us and is one that can go better and bigger."
Northants Steelbacks are back in action on Friday (start 11am) when they travel to Chesterfield to take on Notts Outlaws in the Metro Bank One Day Cup.
With three Group A matches to play, Northants sit second bottom of Group A, eight points adrift of top two Leicestershire and Surrey, who have both played a game more.
A win for the Steelbacks would see them join third-placed Notts on 12 points, and firnly keep alive their chances of reaching the knockout stages.