Liam: We put our trust in each other

LIAM Livingstone believes England’s entertainers are thriving in an environment of “trust” created by Eoin Morgan, who was absent at an optional training session yesterday.

Morgan has registered backto-back ducks in England’s one-day series against the Netherlands in Amstelveen, although he has spoken about the necessity to manage his fitness before this autumn’s T20 World Cup.

England’s white-ball captain has battled quadricep and groin injuries recently so was perhaps mindful of his workload, but he was one of two players to skip voluntary training before today’s third one-day international.

When everyone is available it is likely that Livingstone will be Morgan’s long-term successor in a middle order overflowing with batting talent, and the Cumbrian is increasingly coming to the fore as he holds the record for England’s fastest fifties in ODIS and T20s – both of which came off just 17 balls.

His ODI effort was against the Dutch last Friday as England flayed a world-record 498 for four, which Livingstone credited to the belief the batters have in each other in a culture fostered by Morgan.

“We are in the entertainment business and thankfully we’ve got a lot of talent to come in,” he said. “Eoin trusts everybody and everybody trusts everybody else.

“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.”

England’s other absentee at training was Reece Topley, who could give way in the XI to Sam Curran, although the uncapped David Payne and Luke Wood are waiting in the wings.

England lead the series 2-0 but World Cup Super League points are at stake so the tourists will know the importance of remaining on the front foot. The Netherlands are poised to include left-armer Fred Klaassen and fellow seamer Paul van Meekeren.