Livingstone and Duckett set for Test calls as Stokes attacks
BEN Stokes’ England selections continue to epitomise their attacking brand of cricket, with Liam Livingstone due to be handed a Test debut against Pakistan and Ben Duckett a longawaited recall.
Livingstone has not played a red-ball match in 2022, but was part of England’s successful T20 World Cup campaign in Australia earlier this month, while Duckett has not played Test cricket for England for seven years.
Despite not representing Lancashire in the County Championship since
September 2021 as he has been focusing on shorter-format cricket, Livingstone caught the attention of Stokes and head coach Brendon Mccullum for his eye-catching shots in white-ball cricket.
“It was a pretty simple conversation I had with him (Livingstone), actually before we went out to Australia for the World Cup,” the England captain said.
“Obviously, I told him where we stood in terms of him playing some red-ball cricket out in the subcontinent.
“With the skill he has with the ball and the way he plays with the bat is very aligned with how me and Baz want to see the team play. He jumped at the opportunity.
“I don’t necessarily think that not playing a red-ball game is going to be too much of a thing for him.
“He’s a very natural cricketer, he’s going to go out there and really express himself.”
Duckett has not played a Test since 2016 when he was handed a brutal baptism of fire at the hands of Indian spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin.
Then aged 22, Duckett played in the series against both Bangladesh and India that winter, averaging just 15.71, and has not played Test cricket for England since. However, Duckett amassed over 1,000 runs in last season’s County Championship Division Two at an average of 72.28.
When England toured Pakistan for seven T20 internationals in September and October Duckett finished as the second-highest rscorer in the series.
“Ducky (Duckett) showed out here in the T20s just how good he is against spin bowling,” he said. “We are excited to have him at the top.”