Liam Livingstone claims that since being cut from England’s white-ball teams in May, he has not spoken to the management “a single word” and feels that his versatility has hurt his chances of being selected.
Liam Livingstone, who turned 32 last month, hasn’t appeared in any capacity for England since their Champions Trophy group-stage loss in March. He is now the top run scorer in the men’s hundred this season while captaining the Birmingham Phoenix. He has recently won the IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, despite playing a limited role and scoring 112 runs in eight innings.
Liam Livingstone did not appear in the white-ball teams announced on Friday to play South Africa and Ireland next month, despite having captained England in an ODI series in the Caribbean just a year ago. He told talkSPORT’s Following On podcast on Tuesday that he is unsure of his future plans, as his current contract is set to end later this year.
I wasn’t good enough there. However, it’s likely that I wasn’t alone,” Liam Livingstone stated.
“I raise my hands up and admit that I didn’t have a fantastic series in India or Pakistan. “To be honest, I’m not sure where I stand with England. The thing that irritates me is that I think I still have cricket at its peak.
He claimed that his most recent interaction with “any of the top four people in charge”—the others being managing director Rob Key, national selector Luke Wright, and captain Harry Brook—was a phone call from Brendon McCullum during the IPL informing him that he had been left off of England’s squads to play the West Indies in June.
“I enjoy playing for England so much. Being able to represent my nation makes me more proud than anything else. I believe that at my age, this is the point at when a batter truly reaches their peak. Looking at Jos [Buttler] over the past several years, I believe I could significantly contribute to an England team’s World Cup victory going into a [T20] World Cup year.
“I would love to help, but that’s probably the annoying thing for me. Playing for England would be my dream. I believe I’m still capable of playing for England. To be honest, though, I haven’t heard anything since the middle of the IPL, so I’m not really sure where I stand. I think that right now I’m playing better than I have in my entire career.
Liam Livingstone has mostly been used by England as a finisher in both white-ball formats, but he has generally done better higher up the order. For example, he has a much better record at No. 4 in T20Is than in any other position, and last year, while playing at No. 5, he scored a game-winning 124 not out against the West Indies in Antigua.
“That’s probably been one of my biggest frustrations,” he stated. “In fact, I’ve performed incredibly well for England whenever I’ve moved up the order. The fact that I can come in lower down the order and knock sixes from ball one is certainly not something that many people can do, so perhaps my versatility has worked against me a little.
“Instead of being a slogger down the order who can occasionally come in and out, I feel like a batter who can go on and win games for whoever I’m playing for. To be honest, I think I have more game than that. I’ve performed better in my job the more responsibility I’ve had. Of course, I feel like I’m living off of it right now with the Phoenix.”
Will Jacks, who did not play under Buttler’s captaincy earlier this year but showed promise under Brook’s leadership against the West Indies in June, and Jacob Bethell, his Phoenix teammate in the Hundred who will be England’s youngest captain in Ireland next month, have surpassed Liam Livingstone in the rankings.
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