Cricket Star Liam Livingstone Primed for T20 World Cup After Overcoming Knee Injury
England all-rounder Liam Livingstone is eager to showcase his skills at the upcoming T20 World Cup after successfully managing a persistent knee injury that had plagued him since December 2022. The 30-year-old, who first sustained the knock during his Test debut against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, revealed that a recent injection has finally addressed the issue that had been hampering his performance and enjoyment of the game.
“I’ve got something underneath my kneecap that keeps catching. Thankfully, the injection sorted that out or hopefully it has,” Livingstone explained. “It’s not been the most enjoyable 18 months trying to play with a niggle. It drains your spirit and drains your enjoyment of cricket. I was in a pretty crap place at the end of the IPL. It was getting too much. The injection seems to have worked and just being able to play cricket pain-free for the first time in two years is the exciting part. I feel like I’ve got a smile on my face and that’s all that really matters to me.”
After returning home early from the IPL to address the knee problem, Livingstone is now raring to go for England’s title defense in the T20 World Cup. The team left London for Barbados on Friday, fresh off a rain-affected series win over Pakistan, where two of the four matches were abandoned. Despite the series “never really getting going,” Livingstone believes England are in a “really good place” and “ready to go,” particularly with the return of their two fastest bowlers, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.
“Any team that has them, before you even start the game, you feel like you’re one step ahead. We feel like we’ve got pretty much all basics covered, which is what you want going into a World Cup,” Livingstone said.
The all-rounder, who rushed back from an ankle injury to feature in England’s T20 World Cup win in 2022, is confident that the team can go far in the competition again. “It’s hard to say if it’s a stronger or weaker side (than 2022),” he noted. “We won a World Cup in Australia, so we had a pretty strong side there. But certainly, we feel like we’ve got a very good team. We’re in a much better place than what we were six months ago, which is pretty exciting for all of us.”
Livingstone, who is set to bat at number seven, is grateful for the trust placed in his all-round abilities by the England management. “I love coming back to play for England because Jos and Motty really trust my bowling, which not many people do in different competitions,” he said. “It’s a difficult role batting at seven. I faced three balls in this series and may not face a ball until we get out there and we’re 60 for five. So I’ve got to try and contribute in a different way and being able to do that with the ball or whatever it is in the field. I guess that’s the cool thing about being able to contribute in all three facets of the game: whenever you’re called upon, you’ve got an opportunity.”
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