Jamaican wicket-keeper/batsman Chadwick Walton has had a lengthy Caribbean Premier League (CPL) career, participating in the regional tournament since its inception in 2013. In that 2013 season, Walton, now 38, was a member of the Jamaica Tallawahs team which won the inaugural CPL title, defeating the Guyana Amazon Warriors by seven wickets in the grand finale at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad. Walton scored 137 runs in five matches in the 2013 season, returning an average of 27.40.
In the next three CPL seasons, Walton was steady with the bat as he ended successive seasons with 200-plus runs. In July 2016, Walton smashed his highest CPL score of 97 off just 54 balls at Sabina Park in Kingston against the Barbados Tridents. The hard-hitting Walton helped the Tallawahs to their second of three CPL titles in the 2016 season, as they turned back the Amazon Warriors in the final once more.
Walton joined the Warriors for the 2017 season, where he would have his best CPL campaign to date. In 12 matches, Walton rattled off 458 runs with three fifties and a top-score of 92 which came against the Tridents. Walton averaged an impressive 41.63 in 2017, with a strike rate of 145.86 – claiming the Player of the Tournament award. He was unable to add another CPL trophy to his collection in 2017 though, as the Warriors were beaten by eventual champs, Trinbago Knight Riders, in the second qualifier at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad.
In 2018, Walton and the Amazon Warriors were again haunted by TKR, who stormed to an eight-wicket win in the final in Tarouba after restricting the Guyanese franchise to a score of 147 for nine in the finale. Walton managed just one run in that final, succumbing to the guile of Khary Pierre, who walked away with the Man of the Match award.
Walton's CPL form was recognised at the international level, as he turned out in 19 T20 internationals for the West Indies, with 17 of those matches coming from 2016-2018. Stylish at his very best, Walton has also played two Test matches for the West Indies, to go along with nine One-day internationals.
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After his prolific 2017 season, Walton has since struggled to rekindle his best touch. During his last four seasons, the Jamaican has only got past an aggregate of 200 runs in the 2019 season – scoring 207 runs with an average of 23 that year.
Still, Walton's overall CPL record is credible, as he has scored 1,910 runs in 89 matches. At the time of this publication, Walton was ninth on the list of leading run-scorers in CPL history. Walton's TKR teammate, Nicholas Pooran, is tenth on the list with 1,840 runs.
After a subpar return with the bat to start CPL 2023, Walton will hope to regain his 2017 form and help TKR to their fifth CPL title.
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