Liam Livingstone is confident that the bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood’s firepower will give his country an edge during their T20 World Cup defense in Barbados next week.
The reunion of Archer and Wood at The Oval on Thursday was crucial to England as they sealed a 2-0 T20 series win over Pakistan. When Azam (30) was dismissed by Archer, their captain, they collapsed from this score to be all out for 157.
Meanwhile, Naseem Shah and Azam Khan were taken down by Wood with his searing bouncers which came at a frantic pace of as high as 96 mph (154 kph).
Among other players, Liam Livingstone also had an impact when he took two wickets in one over. This statement proved right when Jos Buttler (39) and Phil Salt (45) performed well against them.
“It is great being able to go into the world cup having beaten two matches,” said Liam Livignstone after winning the four-match T20I which only got action from two matches whereas others in Leeds and Cardiff got washed away with rain.
“Actually I think what was even better from that game especially really we got out of it having Joffy and Woody gives us that extra little bit which we haven’t really had before so pretty cool.”
Livingstone emphasized that his fellow Lancashire team members have suffered from constant injuries throughout their careers saying “You’ve pretty much defeated any team that has those two guys playing against you before you even start”.
“We know pace can work one of two ways: it can get you wickets and it can go for runs. They’re not always going to blow teams away but I think having those two is a pretty big weapon especially CJ’s been bowling beautifully too.”
England will want to build on this new-found confidence after failing to defend last year’s World Cup title in India for the ODIs. The team’s poor performance raised questions about the future of both Buttler as captain and coach Matthew Mott.
However, the pair was trusted by England management due to their role in winning the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. “We are actually in a much better place now than what we were six months ago,” said Livingstone adding that this is very promising for everybody involved.
In another development, Livingstone has revealed that he has got over a recurring knee pain.
“It’s not exactly been the greatest 18 months playing with a niggle,” he noted. As for Livingstone who described himself as “pretty low” after his IPL 2024 season ended, it just sucks out all the happiness from Cricket.
The good news is that an injection seems to have worked wonders on his knee bringing back some life into him again which was otherwise waning.
“Much better than I was feeling before,” he replied this time smilingly.
