rticular is something Walton feels has enhanced his professional

The first day of the group stages of the premier tournament, The International 6, saw two groups clash for the first time. The matches set the tone for the next few weeks, showing that teams with an early lead wont have to worry about wins later, while those who struggle will be in a constant uphill battle.In Group A, OG was the top of its game, putting up a 2-0 against Alliance and going even with Evil Geniuses and LGD Gaming. The former North American powerhouse Evil Geniuses had easily the best performance of the first day, tieing OG and LGD for the top spot in Group A with a 4-2 record. Though there were concerns about EGs potential coming into TI6, the team has made a statement today: the former champs are back in full form.Trailing behind in the second three-way tie were TNC Gaming, Wings Gaming and Alliance. Though TNC lost 0-2 to Alliance, a 2-0 sweep of Wings and 1-1 trade with NaVi surprised many, keeping the SEA qualifiers in the winners side of the group for a day. Natus Vincere had a tough 2-4 showing, and Escape Gaming rounded out the bottom of Group A, only managing a single win against NaVi.Group B didnt disappoint in exciting matches either, with plenty of surprises in the first two sets of matches played. At the top were Newbee, Digital Chaos, Team Secret and EHOME. Alongside the Chinese favorites for the group were two qualifier teams and a wild-card squad, and all four ended day one with 3-1 records.Sitting just outside the winners split in Group B are MVP Phoenix and Team Liquid, teams that both went even in games played. Liquid was expected to place higher and will need to make a comeback, while MVP showcased its typical aggression and will likely fight back hard in tomorrows matches. The only teams to go winless today were Vici Gaming Reborn and Fnatic, who currently round out the bottom of Group B.Authentic MLB Jerseys Outlet . 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Discount MLB Jerseys . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over .Sitting on the Jamaica Tallawahs team bus in Port-of-Spain heading to Queens Park Oval for the 2013 Caribbean Premier League semifinals and finals in Trinidad, then 27-year-old Chadwick Walton was shadowing the teams newest addition Kumar Sangakkara, who had signed as an overseas replacement player for the playoffs in place of Pakistans Ahmed Shehzad. Walton, a fellow wicketkeeper, was looking to gain insight into what made Sangakkara tick.How did he play those silky drives? How did he pick fellow Tallawahs and Sri Lanka team-mate Muralis doosra from behind the stumps? Instead, the experience hanging around the pair of Sri Lankans on the way to the Tallawahs title-winning run was memorable to Walton for altogether different reasons.A little bit of everything is being talked about on the team bus when youre around athletes, Walton recalls. But these two, it was mostly business and family. So that stood out to me because you see these persons on TV and you idolise them and now you sit in a room having dinner with them and listening to the type of conversations. I didnt know what to expect so it really stood out to me.I used to hang with Murali a lot and Kumar, just the way they socialised it was a bit different to what I was typically used to. They were talking mostly business, more on a macro-economic scale. They were talking big, the whole country. I mean yes we hear it in the Caribbean from some players but its not the norm to hear it from athletes. Theyd speak about issues of government, future investments, macro investments. I liked how these fellas how they view stuff. [Kumar] spoke about his restaurant. Murali would talk about manufacturing. I was quite impressed just sitting there and listening.Waltons window into Sangakkaras approach to life also provides a view into the Jamaicans own outlook. Now 31, he has been an intricate part of this years Tallawahs campaign on the road to the final, scoring 276 runs while opening the batting alongside Chris Gayle, but cricket is not the be all and end all for Walton.Influenced in part by Sangakkaras pursuit of a law degree, Walton enrolled a few months later in a sports science and marketing masters program jointly run by Canadas University of New Brunswick and the University of West Indies campus at Cave Hill in Barbados. However, the scholar, who had done his undergraduate bachelors degree in accounting and will get his masters diploma in October, says that despite his mothers job as a teacher growing up, he wasnt always so keen to be interested in academics. Rather, his path to cricket began precisely because it helped him to get away from school.I used to like missing school so cricket was my avenue for missing school, Walton says. If you have a cricket game, you miss an entire day of school. Your parents give you more money because you have to travel. So it was a double incentive for me.At one point, the self-proclaimed problem child says he was suspended from high school for his behavior. However, as his approach to academics began to mature, so did his cricket. After spending a few summers in the USA visiting his uncle Uriah Chambers and playing in the Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York leagues in 2005 and 2006, Walton was encouraged by local Jamaican coaches to stay home if he wanted to be serious about becoming a professional. The increased focus in 2007 led to a List A debut later that year for Combined Campuses and Colleges and, early in 2008, to a first-class debut as well.By 2009, Walton was making his Test debut for West Indies, although not in ideal circumstances. A simmering feud between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association resulted in a players strike ahead of the two-Test series at home against Bangladesh. Walton was one of the seven debutants in a squad flown in to St Vincent about 24 hours before the first Test, a 95-run loss.ddddddddddddIt wasnt the best of circumstances, Walton recalls of his international debut. We didnt have enough time to prepare but suffice to say we lost. If you lose by an inch or you lose by a mile, its still a loss.His first two ODIs followed later that year in South Africa during the Champions Trophy with the first-choice players still on strike. In the years since, Walton has made several touring squads, including the 2013 tour to India for Sachin Tendulkars farewell series and the subsequent tour of New Zealand where he played in three ODIs. Despite the limited appearances and his ensuing academic pursuits, Walton still holds out hope that the window on his international career has not come to a close.I dont feel that path of my career is gone, Walton says. I still feel I can play international cricket. Its just that the right opportunity hasnt come to pass. Ive played only six first-class games in two years. Between doing a masters and playing sport, its challenging. Im not sure its one of the reasons I was overlooked. I cannot really put a finger on it or say that I cant play international cricket anymore because I still can. Now that the masters is over, Im still looking to play international cricket. Walton captained the CCC team in this years Nagico Super50, finishing second on the team in runs with 170 at 42.50 behind Rovman Powell. This seasons CPL experience has given more evidence that hes better placed if called upon to represent West Indies again. In particular, his 97 off 54 balls against Barbados Tridents, the fourth-highest individual score in the competition this year, showed his skills with the bat have not eroded while he was hitting the books.Though Sangakkara has taken the gloves throughout the season, Walton has demonstrated his fielding versatility by leading the team in catches with 11, just two behind Jason Mohammed for the CPL lead, and has been a reliable presence patrolling the long-on and midwicket boundary for catches in the slog overs. Being around the overseas players in particular is something Walton feels has enhanced his professionalism.The Caribbean Premier League has helped and given me a lot of exposure on and off the field, Walton says. Yes, on the field youre on TV and people see what you have to do. Off the field, you have persons like Sanga and world-class bowlers like Murali, Dale [Steyn] and all these sort of persons. Youre learning both ways. Youre learning while youre playing the game and youre learning a lot more watching theses fellas and how they generally go about in their preparation.You have to know yourself. Thats what I picked up from these fellas. Youll have days that theyll come and practice very very hard. Then youll have days where theyll come and say, Five balls and thats it. Sometimes you have persons who say, Coach, Im okay. Chris Gayle in particular. He knows his game inside and out. Chris comes and knows what he has to do and thats Chris. Its pretty much know yourself and what works for you and what you need to do to perform on the field.As for how much longer he wants to stick around the field of play before making use of his masters degree, Walton has an eye for business interests but says hes now back to being fully focused on cricket for the next few years, health permitting. This seasons CPL has been a chance for him to show selectors that he hasnt disappeared.Ive been thereabouts for selection. Ive been included in training camps and a few more tours but Ive just never been included in the final XI, Walton says. Its not that Ive been out in the wilderness. The selectors are always looking. Im still there. ' ' '