JAMES COYNE IN AMSTELVEEN: In among the carnage of last Friday, Livingstone fell one ball short of matching AB de Villiers for the fastest half century in ODIs
Cricket, as we all know, is a business as much as a sport these days – and no one seems more comfortable with the need to entertain as Liam Livingstone.
The 28-year-old catapulted into the top bracket of young white-ball batsmen with the fastest hundred for England in T20Is against Pakistan last summer, followed by a blistering 92 off 40 balls in The Hundred live on BBC television.
His whirlwind 17-ball fifty for England in the opening ODI against the Netherlands at Amstelveen last week was just his latest incredible assault at the end of an innings – but Livingstone admitted he had not kept track of the fact that both he and the team were on the cusp of world records.
Two sixes from Livingstone off the last two balls would have taken England to 500 – a mark never before reached in a List A match. He clubbed Shane Snater to the midwicket boundary off the penultimate ball, but it just landed inside the rope, before he smacked the last delivery for six, taking England to 498 for 4 – still breaking their own ODI world record.
"I didn't even know we needed 12 off the last two balls," he said. "We were pretty much trying to hit every ball for six by that point. It was only when the last ball went for six and it was 498 that I thought: 'Where were the two runs we needed?'"
Livingstone, both in the IPL and with England, has taken on the mantle of his team's finisher, which means perfecting the technically difficult task of going out to hit sixes from ball one.
"The situation I've been in was very similar to the one I've been in for the past couple of months [at the IPL]. It's something I've tried to work on down the years and got me into this team and wasn't something I did a lot at the start of my career. The most pleasing thing is to have adapted to certain situations. It's starting to be a little more familiar now. I did it throughout the IPL and increasingly in the England team.
Livingstone smashed 66 off just 22 balls in the first ODI of the series (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
"That's probably the role I have to play at the moment and I really enjoy it. You always get a chance to affect the game and that's the most exciting part of it. A lot of it comes from practice, making sure you're practising what you do out in the middle.
"Some days it's not going to work out – and that's absolutely fine. The great thing about this environment is that we've got trust in everybody’s ability that if it's not your day someone else will do it. It's all about the trust the players and staff have they've got the ability to play their way."
In among the carnage Livingstone had fallen one ball short of matching AB de Villiers for the fastest half century in ODIs.
"I actually didn't know. I was disappointed I missed the last two balls that would have got me to the record. Personal milestones, they are what they are, but very exciting to be involved in a record with the team."
Livingstone isn't sure what precisely makes him the ball-striker he is, but does feel his bat swing sets him apart.
"I think I have a very natural swing. That's something I've been blessed with.
"It's also years of travelling around the world, going to the IPL, and batting in the nets with different people. Also working with Jos [Buttler] and seeing how he goes about playing.
"When I was a little boy I certainly tried to hit every ball for six. My little boy stage probably lasted longer than it should! Many people got very frustrated with me growing up as a kid, even into my first couple of years of professional cricket.
"It's nice to be finally maturing a little bit. Coming into this environment suits my game perfectly, the way that Eoin [Morgan] trusts everyone and everyone trusts everyone around them. We have a lot of fun and we have a lot of talent in the group.
"Everybody in the ground will remember that day for a long while. We are in the entertainment business and we are there to entertain. Even with lads missing we've still got a lot of talent to come in and replace that."
Livingstone has become a key part of England's white-ball teams (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
The sky is the limit for Livingstone in terms of six-hitting, though he stopped short of saying he hits the ball further than Buttler.
"I'm not going to argue with him! It's quite good fun. We play golf together a lot and basically that's just a long drive competition. I can guarantee you that throughout the IPL I wouldn't watch too much cricket but when Jos was batting I'd switch my TV on and I guess that's what we want to do."
Livingstone's 2021 exploits earned him a bumper £1.12million deal with Punjab Kings in this year's IPL, despite managing just 112 runs at a strike-rate of 125 with Rajasthan Royals in 2021. He was up to a staggering 437 at 182 this year.
"I don't think it could have gone any worse than before – the only way was up," he joked. "It was nice to have a clear role. I hadn't had too much opportunity beforehand.
"It's a great tournament to learn in and we go away and play in an IPL so we can become accustomed to Indian conditions, and hope that ultimately will help England in a World Cup next year. Any experience you get around the world is a great thing to have. It's the biggest tournament in the world – so it was nice to do well."
The flipside of Livingstone's short-form demands is that he hasn't played a first-class match since before the pandemic, and admitted recently that – due to his clear-the-front-leg style – his technique is not currently up to scratch against the swinging Dukes ball.
Despite the pleas of fans and pundits for England to be considering Livingstone for Test cricket – and he has been named in a Test squad before – there seems little prospect of it happening soon, despite the palpable way T20 fed into the manner of England’s stunning run-chase at Trent Bridge and Brendon McCullum's way of approaching things.
A hundred against Pakistan in a T20I last year was Livingstone's breakthrough moment on the international stage (Lindsey Parnaby/AFP via Getty Images)
"The boys here were very excited watching it. It's mental how the white-ball game has changed [Test cricket] – the way the guys chased that down with so many overs left. That was pretty special. It was nice to watch that and see the turnaround.
"It's always good to see the Test team doing really well. They'll have brought in a lot of supporters who haven't watched over the last couple of years. On my red-ball game, I haven't played too much red-ball cricket so I can't really comment."
Ahead of tomorrow's series finale, Eoin Morgan and Reece Topley missed today's optional training session. Sam Curran could well come back into the XI after missing the second ODI; Luke Wood and David Payne have yet to make their international debuts. England do not have a spare specialist batsman in the squad.
Although England have already won the series, there is no such thing as a dead rubber these days, with points on offer in the Super League for World Cup qualification.
The Netherlands have the opportunity to add two county-contracted seamers to their XI – Paul van Meekeren (Gloucestershire) and Fred Klaassen (Kent) – after they flew over from England.
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