Sheridan in big league with £1m deal to commit future to Sale

Andrew Sheridan has signed a £1million contract with Sale in recognition of his rocketing value as one of the world's most destructive scrummagers.

England's 28-year-old loosehead prop has committed the rest of his career to the Cheshire club by agreeing a four-year deal due to be announced within the next 24 hours.

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'Big Ted's' arrival in the big-money league reflects his impact on the World Cup and Sale's ambition to keep him as the cornerstone of their bid to regain the Premiership title they won last year.

His demolition of Australia during the quarter-final in Marseille proved the biggest single factor behind England's World Cup renaissance and now his bank manager will be totting up the consequent bonanza.

Sale, who pushed the boat out last season to tie England stand-off Charlie Hodgson to a long-term deal, have now pushed it out further still to prevent Stade Francais and Toulouse trumping any English bid for Sheridan's services.

With his current deal expiring at the end of the season, they would have been free to approach Sheridan in the New Year.

At 6ft 5in and a shade more than 19st, he is not only the biggest prop around but also the strongest.

As Peter Allen, his old rugby master at Dulwich College, said: 'Never before have I seen one player inject so much fear into the opposition and dominate so many games with a combination of size, speed and strength.'

Despite his escalating earning power, Sheridan, a country music fan who writes his own songs, has already begun planning for a career outside rugby, not at the Grand 'Ol Opry in Nashville but as a bricklayer.