Liam was right to step down says Chapple

CRICKET GLEN Chapple believes Liam Livingstone made the right decision to step down as Lancashire captain.

The all-rounder announced he was giving up the role after just one season in charge in a bid to work on his own batting form, which took a dip last season. Dane Vilas will take over this summer, freeing up the 25-year-old to concentrate on his own game. And head coach Chapple believes Livingstone discovered just how much extra pressure there is on a county captain.

“There were a lot of things for Liam to think about,” Chapple said. “He worked really hard at the captaincy and his credentials as a captain are not in question – his tactical ability is great, he was fully committed to the job.

“But when a young player doesn’t score as many runs as he wants to, you have to talk to him and work out what he wanted to do.

“Coupled with the fact he is an exciting one-day cricketer as well as a red ball player, there is potential for him to be called up for international cricket.

“It took him a while to decide the best he can do for Lancs is to score runs for us and that will enable him to further any other ambitions. But he has to score runs for Lancashire.

“He is only 25 and can refocus on his own game. I know it was a tough decision for him, but I think it was the right one. Hopefully he will have a great season.

“County captaincy is tough for anybody. As a batter he is under constant pressure to score runs. It was a difficult season for batsmen, and he had bad luck with injury too.

“He is in that phase of his career where he is being taken out to play Lions cricket, so he has a lot to juggle.”