FEATURES
Follow UsLiam Livingstone’s batting career until the ongoing England vs. New Zealand ODI series was like a deodorant with a lot of gas but ephemeral fragrance.
In an ODI batting career that is just 12 innings long as of now, the maximum number of deliveries he has faced in a game was 33. In fact, in 10 of his 12 innings in the oldest white ball format, he has batted either at number 6 (seven times) or number 7 (three times). His role is clear in this team - come in the last 10, and start hitting the ball so hard that the leather comes off it. Most times, he has performed the role as was asked of him.
But that wasn’t enough for Livingstone. Returning to the side after an injury, and in a format where he hasn’t played much cricket for England, he needed time in the middle. Even a batter like him, known for sprinting more than marathons, can’t come and hit from ball one.
After the 1st ODI at Cardiff, which was his longest ODI innings until then (a 40 balls 52), he said (as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo), “Sometimes, without the volume in the middle, it can be pretty difficult just to walk in and smack the ball out of the park without a lot of confidence in the middle behind you”.
However, in the second ODI of this ODI series, he not only got the time in the middle but showed everyone that he’s not just a gas-filled deodorant with a short-lived fragrance. He’s a luxury perfume England can’t not afford to spray all over their plans for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 in India.
Livingstone in a new avatar
Trent Boult had run riot over England’s top order in his comeback for the Blackcaps. The last World Cup champions were reduced to 8-3 (Indian fans, wink wink), then to 28-4 and by the time skipper Jos Buttler was clean-bowled by Mitch Santner, half of the English side were chilling in the pavilion with only 55 on the board in 12.1 overs. It was already a curtailed game, as rains had blessed this game just like the one at Colombo, and the contest was reduced to 34 overs a side.
At that point, Liam Livingstone joined Moeen Ali and started doing something that he hadn’t in his short ODI career - rebuild! He acknowledged his unfamiliarity with such a role. “...I’m somebody that comes at the end of the innings. I am not going to be someone who bats for number 3 for England in ODI cricket.”
He still didn’t need to bat at 3, but he arrived to bat in the 13th over of the game, with 22 more overs still left to go. However, he played exceptionally well, first with Moeen and then Sam Curran as he was circumspect initially, but blasted off Tim Southee and the other Kiwi bowlers towards the end. His final score? 95 off 78 not out, with just 1 six and 9 fours, and 53 of his runs coming by him running between the wickets.
No one was expecting his batting to last that long. However, as England finished the innings with 226-7, he had not only lasted long but enforced a comeback of sheer dominance as the Kiwis now had to score at 6.64 RPO to achieve that target in 34 overs.
As it turned out, they never did. England won the game by 79 runs and Liam Livingstone received a big bottle of alcohol for his longest innings in international cricket.
Livingstone the ‘ Massive Asset’
“I really pride myself on being someone that can change a game; the more I can do it like I did today [in the 1st ODI at Cardiff], over an extended period, the bigger asset I’ll be to this one-day team..I know that when I’m at my best, I can be a massive asset to this team”, said Livingstone (as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo).
To say is one thing. But to prove that he’s actually a massive asset in the next game was a testament to Livingstone’s immense drive to keep improving himself as a cricketer. In fact, it is not only his batting that he wishes to be better at in ODI cricket. He knows he is in this English side because he offers them an extra spin bowling option who bats in the top 7 and can bowl both off and leg spin.
Eoin Morgan, said to Sky Sports, “It's his all-round ability: in the field, he’s unbelievably good, but also his ability to bowl both wrist-spin and finger spin makes him almost a dead-cert to play every game.” Livingstone certainly understands this as he revealed after the game at Cardiff that he is working on his release to become a genuine all-rounder.
In terms of their batting, England has gone with a very deep batting lineup for the World Cup. They have Moeen Ali, Livingstone, Sam Curran, David Willey and Chris Woakes who can all bat and even tonk the ball if necessary. If Livingstone can provide them with batting form and solidity, they can keep hitting from both ends and pulverise the opposition’s bowling attack, just like they did against New Zealand in the second ODI.
At this point, it won’t be wrong to assert that Liam Livingstone is the X factor of this English squad, offering them flexibility, hitting range and now, even solidity at a high SR while finishing games during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India. His great IPL numbers further bolster his chances of cementing his spot in England’s first XI.
~~
In our lives, we all wish to challenge the perceptions set about us. We want to show that we are more. We are much more. Sometimes it takes us years and years to do that.
The instant gratification of sports allows us to challenge that perception. We traverse that space between what we are, and what we ought to be more quickly.
Livingstone’s image has been set as a 20-30 ball hitter. But he wished to challenge that and show how ‘massive’ an asset he can be to England. The last two innings in this ODI leg of the New Zealand Tour of England have ensured he’s much closer to what he wishes to be than he was, both in perception and reality.
