Lancashire's Liam ready for the Tests ahead

England call-up Liam Livingstone believes his Test credentials should not be judged on how he fared in two Twenty20 internationals last summer.
Lancashire skipper Liam LivingstoneLancashire skipper Liam Livingstone
Lancashire skipper Liam Livingstone

Livingstone, appointed Lancashire captain at the back end of last year, was the headline inclusion in England’s squad for their upcoming two-Test series in New Zealand.

His initial foray into international cricket produced just 16 runs in a brace of sprint-format matches against South Africa last June.

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Livingstone, a hard-hitting and innovative batsman with a first-class average of 48.75, says he feels more comfortable at the crease when wearing whites.

The 24-year-old told the ECB website: “The Twenty20 was a good experience for me, but my red-ball game is totally different.

“I’m a lot more assured with my red-ball game than I am in T20 cricket so I’ll definitely go into the environment with a lot more confidence in my ability to perform, which will help me.

“It will be nice to get in and around that and hopefully show what I can do.”

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Livingstone eschewed the option of participating in various domestic T20 leagues this winter, instead travelling to Australia with the England Lions, which had the added bonus of experiencing Ashes cricket first hand as he attended the first day of the series at the Gabba.

Livingstone added: “My ultimate goal is to play Test cricket for England, and going to Australia with the Lions was the best way to give myself the best chance of doing that.

“I could have tried to play T20 cricket around the world, but I still don’t see that as the strongest part of my game.

“I wanted to work on different areas of my red-ball game, and I was able to do that for our first two weeks in Brisbane.

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People are saying that Test cricket’s becoming less important, but as players I don’t think that’s true at all.

“You look at the Ashes and the full stadiums, there’s still a lot of interest in Test cricket, and as players it’s still what you want to play.”