England batter Liam Livingstone says 'milestones are meaningless' as he focuses on high strike-rate in West Indies
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Published 18/12/2023 at 21:27 GMT
England all-rounder Liam Livingstone, in the West Indies for England's white-ball of the Caribbean, says he is more interested in his strike rate these days as the batter seeks to try and win games for his country. England play the fourth T20I against their hosts on Tuesday, trailing 2-1 in the five-match series. Watch the action live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Liam Livingstone of England looks on during the 3rd T20 International match between West Indies and England at the National Cricket Stadium on December 16, 2023 in Grenada, Grenada.
Image credit: Getty Images
Liam Livingstone insists he doesn't care about hitting hundreds, as the England batter says he is more interested in his strike rate.
The all-rounder has only gone past fifty on four occasions in 54 innings across all formats in international cricket, with his sole century coming in a T20 international against Pakistan over two years ago.
His average in the shortest format has dropped to 22.29 over the last 18-months, thanks to a high score of 30 from 14 knocks since July 2022.
But the Lancastrian - in the West Indies for England's ongoing white-ball series, live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - claims as long as he's getting his runs quickly, he's not bothered what he gets out for.
"Milestones are actually pretty meaningless in T20 cricket," he said. "It’s all about how you can affect the game and how you can win games.
"I couldn’t tell you how many fifties or hundreds I score any more. It’s all about how many games that you can impact and winning games for your team.
"I’d much rather get 30 off 18 balls than 50 off 40 balls. Your strike-rate is something that you pride yourself on.
"In previous walks of life you’d probably have a bigger eye on your average. Nowadays I’m all about sixes per game and my strike-rate."
Livingstone's six-hitting ability has made him one of the most sought-after white ball players in world cricket, and was part of the England squad who won the T20 World Cup last year, as they beat Pakistan in the final in Australia.
He'll be hoping to help Jos Buttler's side defend that title in 2024, when the tournament takes place in the West Indies and United States.
Preparations are already well underway thanks to their current series in the Caribbean, which England trail 2-1 after three fixtures.
They did pull off a remarkable victory in Grenada on Saturday though, when Phil Salt scored a century and Harry Brook hammered 31 off seven balls to help the tourists chase down a huge target of 223.
Livingstone played an important hand himself thanks to 30 off 18 deliveries, and feels that shows he's beginning to find his form again after a disappointing ODI World Cup in India this autumn.
"Hopefully I’m back on an upward curve with my batting, which has probably been on a downward curve for the last couple of months,” he admits.
"I’ve felt really good in this series, really clear and like I’m heading in the right direction. With two games left hopefully one of them I can go on, get a big score and win a game for England.
"The best thing for us is it feels like from the start of the series to where we are now, we feel like we’re learning. I feel like we’ve taken a big step forward and ultimately that’s what we want to do.
"Obviously we want to win this series but there’s a World Cup coming up. There’s a lot of focus on that and hopefully these next two games can give us a lot of confidence.”
The tourists must win the fourth game of the series to keep their hopes of a series victory alive.
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