Liam Livingstone hopes to recover by England’s final practise game

Liam Livingstone, one of England’s key players for the upcoming T20 World Cup was a certain miss during the Three Lions’ seven-match series against Pakistan. The all-rounder suffered an ankle injury in the lead up to the series, during his stint at the Hundred. 

While Livingstone arrived in Australia earlier this week, he isn’t expected to take the field during the three-match series against the World Champions. 

Realistically, however, the all-rounder has set England’s final warm-up fixture, the October 17 clash against Pakistan as a possible date for his comeback. Having said that, Livingstone insisted that he doesn’t want to risk himself without being 100% fit. 

"In my head, I'm aiming for the warm-up game against Pakistan but if I push it too hard, too early, you knock yourself back. We're trying to get that balance right: push it as hard as we can without aggravating it,” Livingstone told PA news agency, reported ESPNCricinfo.

In his absence, the Three Lions used a mixture of Harry Brook, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran to fill the void. While Brook is expected to retain his place in the playing XI, there is a high chance that someone from the bowling department would have to make space for the returning Livingstone.

"I wouldn't want to go into a game not being 100 percent. Ultimately, there's no selfish reasons to do that. I don't think that's the right thing for me to do.

"We've got an unbelievable squad out here and I certainly wouldn't want to be representing my country at 90 percent. It's improving really quickly. It's got much better quicker than I thought it was going to."

Whilst this injury did come as a setback, Livingstone sees the period away from the game as something that has breathed new life into the all-rounder. 

"I've seen this injury as a real positive for me because it's given me time to get away from cricket. I went away for a holiday with my family to Portugal and literally came back a new man. You don't quite realise it until you've done it.

"Mentally, the break's done me a world of good. Now I feel like I'm that kid again in the back garden, wanting to play cricket every minute of the day."