Sales was educated at
Caterham School, an
independent school in
Caterham in
Surrey. On his debut for
Northamptonshire at the age of 16, he became the youngest scorer of a half-century in the Sunday League, scoring 70 not out against Essex. He scored 0 and
210 not out on his first-class debut for Northamptonshire against
Worcestershire at
Kidderminster in 1996. At 18, he became the youngest player to score a double hundred in the Championship, and in the same year, received the
NBC Denis Compton Award. The 210* was not his highest score however; he has passed 200 six other times including a triple
century against
Essex in 1999 at the age of 21. In 1999, Sales became Northamptonshire's youngest recipient of a county cap. In late 2001, he joined
Wellington cricket club in
New Zealand for a year. In 2004, he was made
captain of Northamptonshire replacing
Mike Hussey. While captain, he continued to score at an average of over 40, but in 2008, he chose to step down from the role prematurely to concentrate on his batting and boost his chances of playing for England. He was replaced by
Nicky Boje for the start of the 2008 season. During the 2009 season, he was ruled out in March with injury until 2010. In January 2010, Sales was picked along with new teammate
James Middlebrook to represent the
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against
Durham in
Abu Dhabi. This was his first game since his injury in 2009. Sales retired from cricket at the end of the 2014 season. His final match was a
NatWest t20 Blast match against
Durham. The match was stopped due to rain with no result; Sales did not bat in his final match. ==International career==