Biggest Test yet for Lancs ace Liam

LIAM Livingstone believes his emergence as one of the most feared whiteball players in the world may have cost him a dream Ashes call-up, but still feels he can be a force in Test cricket if England ‘take a punt’.

Over the past year the Lancashire all-rounder’s career has touched new heights, becoming the six-hitting star attraction of the The Hundred and marking his comeback to the international fold with a 42-ball T20 century against Pakistan - the fastest hundred by an England batter.

“I want to play Test cricket but I haven’t had a chance to work on my red-ball game. If you’ve only half-adozen games in the last two years you’re obviously not able to push your way into the Test team,” he said.

“But if you flip it, if they did take a punt on me, I believe I have the skills to perform. I still average nearly 40 across more than 60 games so my stats suggest I’m not the worst player. I’ve proved I can affect a game in all three facets.

“It fills me with a lot of pride to know I’ve just played every game for England at a World Cup because 12 months ago I was nowhere near doing that.

“I had to go down that white-ball route. I kept asking myself ‘how do I get in that World Cup squad?’ and it’s pretty simple to me: if I had tried to split my cricket 50:50 between the formats, I wouldn’t have been at the tournament.”

At the age of 28 there is plenty of time for Livingstone to earn his England whites, but he is resolved to not let that define him.

“Playing Test cricket is something I dreamed of as a kid, and I still do, but I’m not going to live a lifetime of regret if I don’t,” he said.

“I just hope an opportunity comes around in the next couple of years.”