England all-rounder Liam Livingstone is out to prove his belief 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 ankle ligament damage to feature in England’s 2022 T20 World Cup triumph, the Cumbrian injured his knee just a few weeks later in his lone Test appearance in Pakistan.
Struggles with form and fitness since then have contributed to England discarding Livingstone from their ODI set-up for now, with the 31-year-old only retained for three T20s against Australia.
But, having turned a corner fitness-wise recently, Livingstone claimed three wickets and made 37 off 27 balls in a 28-run defeat in the series opener at the Utilita Bowl, hinting at better times to come.
“I feel like a little kid again, I feel like I’m starting a new career to be honest,” Livingstone said. “Life with niggles is not very fun.
“I can run around 100 per cent 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.
“Mentally, more than anything, it feels really nice to be back playing cricket pain-free and I think, if I get back to my best, I feel like I’m an asset to any cricket team I play in.
“I’m back playing cricket with a smile on my face, that’s when I play at my best. Fingers crossed it stays that way for a while.”
Livingstone described being axed from England’s ODI squad ahead of five matches against Australia this month as a “pretty simple phone call” with Rob Key, managing director of men’s cricket.
His hopes of a recall before next year’s Champions Trophy appear to hinge on him being a standout in T20s and he has been aided by being promoted to number four in the batting order against Australia.
Having spent much of his international career as a reluctant finisher, Wednesday was only the ninth time in 49 T20s Livingstone has batted in the top four and he welcomed the extra responsibility.
“I don’t think you’ll see anybody that wants to bat lower down the order,” he said. “There’s less people that can play that role and sometimes you’ve got to take it on the chin.
“Series like these where you get an opportunity further up the order, it’s a chance for me to stake my claim. I want to try and win games of cricket for England and I think the higher up the order, the more chance you have of doing that.
“I guess winning games of T20 cricket for England may enhance my chances of getting back into the one-day team. But it is what it is, I’m 31, I’m not going to sit here and cry about not being picked.”
Livingstone was one of only four players aged 30-plus in the XI at Southampton as England look to usher in a new white-ball era after a disappointing 12 months in which they have surrendered both World Cups.
England fielded three debutants in Jordan Cox, Jacob Bethell and Jamie Overton but seemed at least one batter light and will ponder making changes ahead of Friday’s must-win second T20 at Cardiff.
As one of the senior players, Livingstone is happy to watch over the newcomers, but he insisted they cannot blame their refresh for any more bad results against their Ashes rivals.
“It feels weird, but I feel really old in this team so I’ve got to give the younger boys a bit more of a steer, take a bit of pressure off them,” Livingstone added.
“The challenge now for us as a group is to get up to speed as quickly as we can and not use that changing of the guard as an excuse to take a while to get up to speed.”