T20 World Cup: England ready to nurse Liam Livingstone through hectic schedule

England’s madcap schedule has not exactly enhanced Liam Livingstone’s chances of being fit for the World Cup but he is ready to bandage himself up and go out to face Afghanistan.

The early stages of this tour has seen England fly from Perth to Canberra, onto Brisbane and now the six hours back to Perth for Saturday’s opener. 

And Livingstone has had to protect his damaged left ankle each time he has stepped on to a plane.

Liam Livingstone smashes a huge six during England’s final T20 World Cup warm-up match

The big hitter will be crucial to England’s hopes of going all the way in Australia this month

‘Flying hasn’t made it the easiest,’ admitted Livingstone after returning with a bang in the final practice match against Pakistan. ‘I have to compress it every time I fly.

‘It just means the physios wrapping it up in bandages so it doesn’t swell up. The swelling is what limits my range of movement which makes it a little more painful to practice. 

‘So I’ll be pretty much training every morning and icing all afternoon. It’s been niggly but there’s a World Cup for England to play for so all the boring days are worth it.’

Now it just remains to be seen if England, who have a near embarrassment of riches as they contemplate their first selection, take a punt on such an important player when he admits he is still only ’90 per cent’ fit.

Their hearts were in their mouths when Livingstone slipped on the ankle he damaged in freak circumstances while making 28 off 16 balls, including one of the biggest sixes even he has hit, during an otherwise meaningless last practice match at the Gabba on Monday.

Livingstone is suffering from a damaged ankle and precautions need to be taken on flights 

But Livingstone, the maker of the fastest T20 hundred in England history, saw his tumble as a good thing. 

‘It was actually nice to slip because it felt fine afterwards and that gives me a little bit of confidence,’ he said.

‘Considering I had a 12-week injury and we’re just at the end of week seven I’m pretty happy with where I’m at and we’ve still got another few days before the first game. So I didn’t really want to go hell for leather in this game.

Livingstone nurses his injured leg after slipping during the win over Pakistan 

‘I just wanted to make sure I got back to cricket and got through my bowling which has been my main worry. My batting’s been fine since pretty much when I started back. It feels good and I’ve put a lot of work in to get where I am, so I’ll keep going.’

England have certainly had their share of freak injuries. Jonny Bairstow broke his leg on the golf course and now here Reece Topley has ended his World Cup by treading on the ‘Toblerone’ foam boundary marker during practice and rolling his ankle.

Livingstone’s injury, suffered while he was playing for Birmingham in the Hundred in August, was equally unfortunate. ‘I actually fell down a kerb going for breakfast in the morning,’ he said. ‘I took a wrong step and fell down.’

At least his prognosis is positive, even if England do not take a risk on him on Saturday. They could easily stick with Harry Brook at five and play Sam Curran as an additional all-rounder at seven. 

But they will be tempted to throw Livingstone back into the fray after seeing him clear the Gabba roof with one of his sixes on Monday.

He is known as one of the biggest hitters in the game and the blow rivalled his enormous hit over the new rugby stand roof at Headingley, also against Pakistan, last year.

‘Brooky was taking the mickey out of me while we batted actually and said to me ‘this is a stadium you haven’t cleared’,’ said Livingstone. ‘If ever there was a wicket to do it on this was it so it was nice to get a few out of the middle to get going.’

But was it bigger than the monster hit in Leeds? Sadly there were no measuring devices at the Gabba to compare the two. ‘I don’t really know,’ he added. ‘Let’s say it was, only so I can boast about it to the lads…’

England seamer Reece Topley is out of the T20 World Cup after suffering an ankle injury