Liam out to repay Ben and Bren

LIVINGSTONE GRATEFUL FOR THEIR ‘PUNT’ ON HIM

LIAM LIVINGSTONE wants to pay back the ‘punt’ Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have taken on him being making an impact in Test cricket.

A virus that swept through the England camp laid low several players. And late last night, officials were still discussing the possibility of delaying the match by 24 hours if not enough of them had recovered sufficiently to field a team.

But once play is under way, Livingstone’s schoolboy dream will finally come true.

The 29-year-old spinning allrounder has played precious little first-class cricket in the last few years and thought his Test chances had gone while his white-ball career went stratospheric.

But thanks to the style and approach of McCullum and Stokes when it comes to Test cricket, the ultra-attacking Livingstone represents just the sort of player who could thrive under their leadership.

“I certainly never lost interest in Test cricket,” he said. “Whenever you have a childhood dream to do something I don’t think you lose that. I guess the way cricket is, your career gets pushed down a certain path.

“But in the garden with my brother you were either playing Test cricket for England or playing to win a World Cup for England so to be able to live out those two dreams in the space of a couple of weeks is pretty cool.

“I guess the big decision I made was to try to play a little bit more white-ball cricket and to go to an IPL instead of playing Championship cricket.

“That was to get me into a World Cup squad in 2021, and it ended with a World Cup medal so I’m completely happy with the decision I made.

“The only way I thought that this opportunity was going to come around was for someone to take a punt on me and the men who would probably do that are Ben and Baz.

“They have and hopefully I can repay them with the faith they’ve shown in me and my game.”

Livingstone has already repaid plenty of faith to his family after his mum and dad were able to fly out to Australia to watch him lift the World Cup – something that his dad Steve documented on social media as the reason behind him giving up the corporate world in 2018. That trip means he can’t make it out to Pakistan as well, but his son knows how happy the family will be.

“It was a trade off, so thankfully it worked out well,” said Livingstone.

“It’s a very proud moment to give back for years and years of driving up and down the M6 three times a week for three or four years while I was still at school and college.

“Dad has always said he wants me to play Test cricket. I owe a lot to mum and dad and I guess this will probably be more about them than it will be about me.”

As many as 14 members of the England tour party, including Stokes, were left struggling with the virus that has caused sickness and diarrhoea, despite the presence of their own chef on the tour, who has been struck down himself.

Former skipper Joe Root added: “I wasn’t feeling very well, but woke up a lot better in the morning, so hopefully it is a 24-hour thing.”

To be able to live out two dreams in a couple of weeks is pretty cool