Lion-hearted Livingstone focusing on Lancashire
Chris Stocks talks to the breakthrough star of England Lions’ tour of Sri Lanka about his ambitions for the season
Liam Livingstone is looking to continue the stellar form he has produced for England Lions this winter when he starts the county season with Lancashire next week.
The 23-year-old all-rounder was the stand-out player for the Lions on their recent tour of Sri Lanka, becoming the only player other than Kevin Pietersen to hit centuries in both innings of a first-class match for England’s second string and averaging 106.66 over the two unofficial Tests.
Livingstone also struck 94 during the one-day series against Sri Lanka A that followed and picked up seven wickets with his spin. It means a player who only made his first-class debut last April is suddenly being talked about as a potential England pick, perhaps as early as the two-match ODI series against Ireland in May.
Asked if he has been surprised by his rapid progress, Livingstone admitted: “Very much so considering this time last year I’d not played a first-class game. But I’ve always had the confidence I could perform at that level.
“You don’t quite know how you’re going to fare when you go away on trips like that to Sri Lanka because it’s all new and different. But I have confidence in the way I go about my game and I was quite happy with the way I played over there.”
Livingstone, who topped Lancashire’s Championship batting averages in his debut season last summer, is inevitably trying to play down talk of a full England call-up, with his county’s Championship opener against Essex at Chelmsford next Friday at the forefront of his mind instead.
“It’s always nice to have your name thrown around but I’ve got a very big start to the season with Lancashire and that’s all I’m focusing on at the moment,” he said. “Whatever happens will happen but as long as I’m performing for Lancashire I’m happy.”
Livingstone also spent time with the Lions in the UAE in the first half of the winter and he believes he has developed rapidly as a player over the past few months.
“It’s been very enjoyable,” he says. “It’s always nice to be away and experience different things and it’s great fun for me as my career develops to learn from different environments and different people.”
One of the people Livingstone has learned the most from over the winter has been Andy Flower, the former England coach who now leads the Lions programme as part of his overall role at the academy in Loughborough.
“I have a very good relationship with Andy, he’s a good person to learn from,” said Livingstone. “He has a very good way of being able to put pressure on you when you need it and take pressure off when you don’t need it. So in that environment he’s an unbelievable coach to work with.
“His experience of international cricket is very good having played and coached at the top level. He was great to work with.”
Lancashire will begin the season with a new head coach in Glen Chapple after the departure of Ashley Giles to Warwickshire. And Livingstone believes Chapple’s ability to infuse the dressing-room with a sense of purpose and fun will be a huge factor in helping the club improve on their seventhplaced Championship finish last summer, when they only avoided relegation by ten points.
“It’s a fresh start for us with Chappie taking over,” he said. “It’s been great fun so far. I’ve just come back into it from the Lions stuff but I’ve come back into a very relaxed environment with the lads loving their cricket. I’m surprised how much fun we’re having together as a group.You can’t really coach that. That’s a very good sign I think for us going into the season.”
Another plus point for Lancashire will be having James Anderson at Old Trafford for the first half of the season.
Anderson will not be picked for the Champions Trophy, meaning he will have a rare three-month spell with his county until the South Africa Test series starts in early July.
Although England will initially only allow their record wicket-taker to play in two Championship matches and two rounds of the Royal London One-Day Cup, just having Anderson’s presence around the club will be a huge boost.
“Whenever Jimmy Anderson plays, it makes the team stronger and not only to have him on the team but to have him in the squad is invaluable for our young seamers,” said Livingstone.
“The amount they can learn from someone like Jimmy is unbelievable. So I think it’s great to have him around. He adds a lot of experience but he’s a great person to talk to – even for me as a batter. With his international experience he can help me or anyone in the squad.”
Chapple’s ability to infuse the dressing room with a sense of purpose and fun will be a huge factor