Liam Livingstone is set to prove his belief that he is an asset to any cricket team when fully fit after more than two years of being held back by injuries.
After rushing back from recovery of ankle ligament damage to feature in England’s 2022 T20 World Cup triumph, he injured his knee just a few weeks later in his lone Test appearance in Pakistan.
Struggling with form and fitness, the England cricket team had no choice but to leave Livingstone from the ODI set-up for now, with the 31-year-old being added only to England’s T20I squad for the Australia series.
Liam Livingstone picked up three wickets and also scored 37 runs off 27 balls in the first T20I match against Australia.
While he could feature in November’s ODI series in the Caribbean with Test players unlikely to be available, his chances of featuring in the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan rest on his T20 form.
“I don’t really know – that’s one of my challenges,” Livingstone said. “That’s why I’m happy that I’ve got an opportunity to bat up the order [in the T20Is]. I feel like I’ve shown over the last couple of weeks, maybe a month, that the longer I get to bat in games, the more of a chance I have to affect games.
“I feel like I’ve done that in 50-over cricket as well: if you take away the World Cup, I feel like I’d done that further down the order. But it is what it is: I’m 31, I’m not going to sit here and cry about not being picked.”
“There’s plenty of cricket to be played around the world, and if I’m not involved in the ODI stuff then there’s plenty more opportunities.
“I want to play as much cricket for England as I possibly can. Unfortunately, I won’t be playing in the ODIs but it’s still not something I’m giving up on.”
“I’ve had a difficult couple of years. My body has probably let me down a little bit, and maybe I haven’t been up to scratch physically, with a couple of niggles here and there.”
He had a remarkable international career. Recalled after four years sideline, he was the undisputed star of the 2021 English summer as he hit a 42-ball century against Pakistan.
But since then he has faded and is playing for his international future this week. If England test batters had been available for the series including Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, and Jamie Smith then Livingstone’s spot have been at risk, but has been promoted to No. 4 in the 1st T20I against Australia.
“I can run around at 100 percent in the field and I can bowl and bat to the best of my ability, which is something I probably haven’t been able to do for two-and-a-half years.”
“It’s up to me to make sure I try to do as well as I can and give them a bit of a headache for the next series,” he said. “I don’t think you’ll see anybody that wants to bat lower down the order.
“I want that responsibility. I want to try to win games of cricket for England, and the higher up the order, the more chance you have of doing that. There’s less people that can play that role [at No. 6] and sometimes you’ve got to take it on the chin… [but] this is a chance for me to stake my claim.”
Livingstone is the second oldest player in England’s squad for the series after Adil Rashid. “It feels weird, but I feel really old in this team,” he said. “I’ve got to give the younger boys a steer and take a bit of pressure off them. I enjoyed the responsibility.
“There’s a bit of a fresh look, a fresh environment,” he added. “Things are going to change. That naturally happens when you bring in new players, but especially when you bring in new coaches as well. Things have felt different: it’s like a new beginning.”
England will be playing the second T20I against Australia on September 13 at Sophia Gardens.
