Liam Livingstone: My ultimate dream is to play Test cricket for England

Livingstone is set for his first County Championship appearance of the season against Northamptonshire at Old Trafford, as the Red Rose aim for a second successive win after beating fellow promotion hopefuls Middlesex

Liam Livingstone insists Test cricket is still his ultimate dream after returning to Lancashire duty following overseas spells of Twenty20 cricket in both the Pakistan Super League and the Indian Premier League.

Livingstone is set for his first Specsavers County Championship appearance of the season against Northamptonshire at Emirates Old Trafford, as the Red Rose aim for a second successive win after beating fellow promotion hopefuls Middlesex at Lord’s last month.

“A lot of people have, almost disrespectfully, said that I’m just travelling the world now playing Twenty20 cricket,” said the 25-year-old batting all-rounder. 

“But it’s very much the complete opposite. My ultimate dream is to play Test cricket for England, and the only way to do that is to get runs in Championship cricket.

“I’ll be working as hard over the next three months, as I have over the past three months, to try and score as many runs as I can to prove to people that I’m not just a bloke who tries to slog a white ball around.”

Livingstone has played his Twenty20 cricket for Karachi Kings and Rajasthan Royals, with the former more productive in terms of playing time.

^{Livingstone in One-Day Cup action}

He scored 321 runs, including three fifties, in 11 appearances for the Kings before only playing four times for Rajasthan with a top score of 44.

“It was good fun, and I learnt so much over the three-month period,” he said.

“But it becomes very tough when you’re training with not much of an end goal. You’re almost just waiting for people to fail before you get a chance. It was a learning experience, in that regard. 

“The competitions were very different. 

“I was quite lucky in the PSL because I played every game. I really enjoyed that tournament and it was a lot better standard than I thought it would be. 

“The PSL was good because I learnt from playing games, and the IPL I learnt from people around me and the workings of the tournament.

“Not playing, I was still learning off the likes of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Steve Smith. Just being in and around the guys was great fun.”

The 25-year-old is confident his experiences have made him a better player.

^{Livingstone in T20 colours}

“I would hope so,” he said.

“Just the experience of watching people play and playing in different conditions. The standard of both tournaments is as close to international cricket as you’ll get. 

“The seamers in Pakistan are probably the best in the world. Each team has someone who bowls 90 plus, if not two or three. Then the spinners, when you get to the IPL, are outstanding. 

“You’re facing international cricketers in your net practice.

“It was definitely a learning experience and I’d be very disappointed if it hasn’t made me a better player.”

Livingstone returned to action for Lancashire in their Royal London One-Day Cup knockout games over the weekend, scoring four in the eliminator win over Middlesex at Lord’s on Friday and 22 in the semi-final defeat to Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday. He opened the batting in both games. 

Lancashire have now got nine back-to-back Championship games before the start of the Vitality Blast in mid-July as they bid to secure an immediate return to Division One.

“It’s a massive period coming up for us,” he added. “Our goal is to get back into Division One and to do that we’ve got to win games of cricket.”

By Graham Hardcastle courtesy of the ECB Reporters network

For more outstanding county coverage, try The Cricketer for three issues free this summer. Click here to sign up today