ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Ones To Watch – Liam Livingstone

The likes of Michael Vaughan, David Lloyd and Nasser Hussain all claimed that Liam Livingstone should have earned a place in England’s Ashes squad this winter, such is the impression he has made in 2021.

Ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, a new series of articles from Prost International will see an individual player from each qualified team selected as “One to Watch.”

Whilst Livingstone may not have done enough to earn himself a place for the Ashes, he is set to play a key role in the white-ball game as Eoin Morgan’s men look to become the first team to hold both the 50 and 20-over world cups simultaneously.

Although that statement would have sounded a somewhat ludicrous one 12 months ago, the Lancashire power-hitter missed out on a place in England’s T20I squad for three fixtures at the back end of 2020 in South Africa.

It was back in 2019 when Livingstone first recognised that something needed to change if he was to force himself into Morgan’s initial thoughts and eventually earn himself a spot in the World Cup squad.

Following a brief spell in the T20 side against the Proteas two years previously, the man now dubbed as “the beast” by Shane Warne, appeared to be dropping further down the pecking order as the likes of Dawid Malan, Tom Banton and Ben Duckett made their debuts in that time with a varying degree of success.

Therefore, as opposed to touring Australia with the Lions that winter, Livingstone took on the challenge of proving himself around the world in franchise cricket.

On his stints in the Mzansi Super League, Big Bash League and Pakistani Super League, the 26-year-old explained that it would be tough to get picked for the England setup.

“I knew it was going to be hard – [England is] probably one of the hardest teams in world sport to get into – but it’s something that I worked really hard at, trying to go away and learn.

“I had to go away, get out my comfort zone and learn in different environments. The pressure you get as an overseas player is like no other, wherever you go in the world – South Africa, the Big Bash, Pakistan, the IPL – and it sets you up for when you get back to international cricket. I made that decision and I think it was the right one.”

Statistics show that the self-confessed Blackburn Rovers supporter certainly benefitted from his spells abroad. He enjoyed a productive PSL campaign with Karachi Kings in 2019, averaging 32.1 while making three 50’s in the process.

Yet it was in the BBL where Livingstone forced onlookers to sit up and take notice of his match-winning abilities.

Three consistent years of development cumulated in a stellar 2020/2021 campaign as he helped Perth Scorchers reach an ultimately fruitless final, despite looking good for his 45 against Sidney Sixers.

Overall, Livingstone averaged 33 from 12 innings at a laudable strike rate of 140.9. He scored more runs than the likes of Alex Carey, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, D’Arcy Short and international teammate Jason Roy.

If not already, Livingstone’s unwavering talent and stunning striking were now there for all to see. His all-round skills were also on display having chipped in with five wickets at an economy of just 8.50 thanks to his uncanny ability to bowl both off and leg-breaks.

Morgan had to take notice and named Livingstone in both the ODI and T20 squads for the tour of India and would soon earn his 50-over debut. Yet that was just the start of what has proven to be a year that even the most optimistic of Lancastrians would not have foreseen for one of their own.

Livingstone was then handed a place in the T20 and ODI squads fixtures against Sri Lanka and made the opportunity count in the former series with an average of 43.00 and a Man of the Match award to his name.

Though, greater heroics beckoned, this time against a high-quality Pakistan attack in the first match of a three-game T20I series.

Having posted a formidable total of 232, the tourists would have been forgiven for expecting to win by a substantial margin. Instead, Livingstone blasted an outstanding 103 runs off just 42 deliveries, becoming his nation’s fastest-ever T20I centurion.

If Livingstone’s rise to the forefront of international cricket could be summed up by one shot, it would be the outrageous maximum he hit off the bowling of Haris Rauf in the following fixture at Headingley which beat the newly-built three-tier stand at the home of Yorkshire.

Do you still need convincing as to why Livingstone is our pick of an extremely talented English bunch? Just take a glance at his record throughout The Hundred. He topped the run-scoring charts for the ECB’s premier white-ball competition, produced those runs at an excellent average of 67.2 with a staggering strike rate of 181.6 which is just phenomenal.

You would be naive to write Livingstone off based on an underwhelming few matches in the IPL, if anything, it will have probably helped him adapt to the differing pitches of the UAE.

Instead, expect big-hitting, boundary-clearing fireworks from the newest of England’s exhilarating limited-overs stars.

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