Charles Sale worked as a sports journalist for 40 years. Starting on the Acton Gazette in West London in 1978, he progressed via the Northern Echo in Darlington to the Daily Express in 1983 and then to the Daily Mail in 2001.

He wrote a daily column Sports Agenda throughout his time on the Mail before retiring in 2018.  The column delved behind the scenes at all the major sports and always held into account the main sporting bodies including the MCC.

His one claim to cricketing fame is playing what is reportedly a world record for the slowest innings of all time. Batting for Repton School against Malvern in 1974, he scored 1 not out in 2hr32 minutes over 58 overs to salvage a draw. The one run came off the first ball, an inside edge that narrowly missed the stumps.

Work on The Covers are Off which started in earnest in April 2019 has taken longer than the building of the Compton & Edrich Stands but both projects have happily come to fruition at the start of the summer of 2021.

This is his second book on cricket. The first one published in 1984, ‘Korty the Legend Explained’ told the story of Essex bowler Charles Kortright, acknowledged as the fastest of them all during the Golden Age of cricket before the First World War.