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With all the other league games abandoned to the wet weather, Sale had a chance to steal a march on the other sides on Saturday but in the event they came across an in-form table-topping Christleton team that completely outplayed them. The one bright spot in an otherwise forgettable performance was the debut performance of overseas player Xavier Marshall who showed signs of being a fine all-rounder for Sale this season.
Sale won the toss and put the home side into bat first on a dry track and wet outfield with more rain looking likely. Two and a half hours and 44 overs later Christleton declared at 204 without loss, with openers Gillson (124) and Briscoe (71) having batted imperiously and giving no chances to the weary and disconsolate Sale bowlers. Quite a contrast to the previous week when they ran through the Marple side for 72! A wet ball did not help Sale's cause and there were two rain breaks to aggravate the conditions.
Sale gave a debut to 17 year old overseas player Xavier Marshall who had only just flown into Manchester from Jamaica that morning. He came on as third change bowler with some tidy offspin but, finding the greasy ball difficult to hold, he changed to some nippy pace bowling after 5 overs and beat the bat several times in an impressive and unlucky spell.
Christleton's generous decalaration was prompted by the prospect of more rain and indeed after half an hour of Sale's innings it poured down, but not before two wickets had been lost in the fifth over bowled by Parkinson. One of these was Marshall who on 12 skied an attempted hook. Until then he had looked the part with some deft strokeplay and could well score plenty of runs against less incisive attacks. The loss of 73 minutes' play left Sale with only 33 overs to bat but they were again soon in trouble against the home side's opening bowlers. Although runs came quickly, wickets also fell regularly with Parkinson grabbing four of the first five to fall and then Briscoe and Ashcroft chipping in with two apiece. Only Rob Walton reached 20 until the last pair of Almond and Rick Halkon came together and added the best stand of 25. When the last wicket fell at 116 there were still 12 overs left and Almond was unbeaten on 24.
Sale picked up a solitary point from the game but can draw some comfort from the fact that Christleton are probably a class above all other sides in the division (they now lead the league by more than 50 points) and that Marshall (who represented West Indies at Under-15 level and helped his side to win the 2000 U15 World Cup) looks as though he could be a real asset to the local side this season - just wait until he gets over his jet lag!
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