Follow UsLiam Livingstone has backed England white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan to return back to his best and feels that the left-hander is just one knock away from finding his rhythm back. Morgan, who has been dismissed for a duck in both the ODIs against the Netherlands, has only managed one 50-plus score (75* v Sri Lanka in July 2021) in his last 26 international innings.
"I think the thing that has been forgotten is Morgs is an unbelievable leader. He is the leader of our team and everybody knows he is only one score away. I'm sure that score will come very soon and he'll be off and running again," Livingstone told Sky Sports ahead of the third and final ODI against the Netherlands on Wednesday (June 22).
Livingstone is one of the best strikers of the ball and is tailor-made for white-ball cricket. However, the 28-year-old has only featured in five ODIs so far, with two of them coming against the Netherlands. The likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow are currently involved in a Test series against New Zealand and it would be interesting to see how England fit him in their XI once these three return to the mix.
Livingstone has been in outstanding touch of late and even had a stunning Indian Premier League 2022 for Punjab Kings, smoking 437 runs at a strike rate of 182.08 - the third-best in the competition. "I don't think it could have gone any worse (than previous years) to be honest. There was only one way and that was up. I hadn't really had too much opportunity before but there are always people who say certain things. It's the biggest tournament in the world, so it was nice to be able to do well.
"It was nice to have a clear role. We go away and play in the IPL so that we can become accustomed to their conditions and that ultimately will help England in a World Cup next year. Any experience you get around the world with World Cups coming up is a great thing to have so I really enjoyed it. It was nice to finally get the monkey off my back about not being able to do it in the IPL."
The 28-year-old, who can bowl both off-spin and leg-spin, is also a clever operator with the ball and his versatility could come in handy for England in the 2023 50-over World Cup in India. "We spend time with Numbers (Nathan Leamon) the analyst and whatever the match-up is, we probably try and go with that. I'm pretty comfortable with chopping and changing mid-over: I'm used to it because I have done so much of it in T20 cricket. If we think somebody has a bigger weakness with the ball turning in I will happily spin the ball into them."
The right-handed batter was at his brutal best in the first ODI against the Netherlands, slamming 66* off 22 deliveries, studded with six maximums and as many fours. In his short ODI career, Livingstone has operated at a strike rate of 154.34 and enjoys taking the attack to the opposition from the word go.
"It's something that's probably got me into this team. It's starting to become a little bit more familiar now: I did it throughout the whole of the IPL and have done it more and more in the England team.
"A lot of it comes from practice. One of the biggest things we've got from this group is the trust that it's not always going to come off: some days it's not going to work out and that's absolutely fine. We've got trust in everybody's ability around us that if it's not your day, somebody else will do it for you."
Talking about his six-hitting rivalry with Jos Buttler, Livingstone said: "I'm not going to argue with that, but he wouldn't be this modest one on one with me. It's actually quite fun. We play golf together and it's basically just a long-drive competition. It's entertaining, isn't it?
"I didn't watch too much cricket during the IPL, but when Jos was batting I'd switch on the TV, and that's what we want to do - be entertaining for people. Certainly, one he hit the other day was pretty big, but don't tell him I said that."