England’s top white-ball players no longer feature in their domestic 50-over competition, which clashes with the Hundred, and Livingstone has not played in the County Championship for two years. While he could feature in November’s ODI series in the Caribbean, with Test players unlikely to be available, his chances of featuring in February’s Champions Trophy likely rest on his T20 form.
“I don’t really know – that’s one of my challenges,” Livingstone said. “That’s why I’m happy that I’ve got an opportunity to bat up the order [in the T20Is]. I feel like I’ve shown over the last couple of weeks, maybe a month, that the longer I get to bat in games, the more of a chance I have to affect games.
“I feel like I’ve done that in 50-over cricket as well: if you take away the World Cup, I feel like I’d done that further down the order. But it is what it is: I’m 31, I’m not going to sit here and cry about not being picked. There’s plenty of cricket to be played around the world, and if I’m not involved in the ODI stuff then there’s plenty more opportunities.
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“I want to play as much cricket for England as I possibly can. Unfortunately, I won’t be playing in the ODIs but it’s still not something I’m giving up on. I’ve had a difficult couple of years. My body has probably let me down a little bit, and maybe I haven’t been up to scratch physically, with a couple of niggles here and there.”
He has been told that he will get a run at No. 4 in this series, a role he prefers to being a finisher. “It’s up to me to make sure I try to do as well as I can and give them a bit of a headache for the next series,” he said. “I don’t think you’ll see anybody that wants to bat lower down the order.
“I want that responsibility. I want to try to win games of cricket for England, and the higher up the order, the more chance you have of doing that. There’s less people that can play that role [at No. 6] and sometimes you’ve got to take it on the chin… [but] this is a chance for me to stake my claim.”
At 31, Livingstone is the second-oldest player in England’s squad for this series behind Adil Rashid. “It feels weird, but I feel really old in this team,” he said. “I’ve got to give the younger boys a steer and take a bit of pressure off them. I enjoyed the responsibility.
“There’s a bit of a fresh look, a fresh environment,” he added. “Things are going to change. That naturally happens when you bring in new players, but especially when you bring in new coaches as well. Things have felt different: it’s like a new beginning.”
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
Source: ESPN Crickinfo