Liam Livingstone hailed England’s victory over the West Indies in the second ODI on Wednesday as “a massive turning point” for the struggling team, a night when all the pieces fell into place and the atmosphere changed and brightened after a miserable World Cup was followed by defeat The series start.
“I wouldn’t say the energy was ever flat. I don’t think it was flat in India,” Livingstone said. “Sometimes you can try too hard and I think we tried too hard. Sometimes it’s better to just let things take their course and rely on your natural ability – we have plenty of that in our dressing room. At some point there would be a turning point and I feel like Wednesday could be a huge turning point for us.
“I thought it was pretty much a perfect team performance: We were outstanding on the power play with the ball, we were outstanding on the power play with the bat, we did our job in the middle of both innings. “Everyone worked as hard as they could , to change the situation, and hopefully today is the turning point. We’ve played a lot of good cricket in the last two games and I think that will do the boys a lot of good.”
Livingstone has struggled to influence games with the bat in this format, particularly since the start of the World Cup, but has made important contributions with the ball in this series, bowling 10 overs in the opening game and taking three important wickets in the second game.
“I worked very hard on this for many years. It doesn’t come as naturally as hitting, so it’s nice that I can still contribute with the ball even if my swing isn’t really at its best,” he said.
“I always try to help England win cricket matches and I haven’t been able to do that with the bat for a few months. Hopefully that will change at some point. I know that something will change and I’m sure that when things change I will look back on this time in my career as being a huge learning curve for me.”
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Livingstone said a visit to his ailing grandfather during the short break between the World Cup and this tour gave him valuable perspective. “Cricket is a sport, it’s not the be-all and end-all. The sun rises in the morning. Life goes on. Things happen,” he said. “I was incredibly happy to be able to see my grandpa again, who is not doing so well at the moment. This gives me an incredible perspective. There is more to life than cricket and while we are playing and have the opportunity to represent our country, we should enjoy it.”
