Livingstone backs ‘untapped’ England talent to shine

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Livingstone backs ‘untapped’ England talent to shine

Liam Livingstone has challenged an inexperienced England white-ball squad brimming with “untapped talent” to make a name for themselves in the Caribbean.

Captain Jos Buttler’s nagging calf problem and the Test duties of a host of star names means England can test their bench strength in three ODIs against West Indies, starting in Antigua on Thursday.

Jordan Cox, named as England’s next Test wicketkeeper, plus batting allrounder Dan Mousley and fast bowler John Turner are poised for debuts, while Livingstone would not rule out a first international appearance for promising young legspinner Jafer Chohan at some point.

Allrounder Jacob Bethell showed glimpses of his talent against Australia in the recent white-ball series and has been a surprise call-up to the Test side, with Livingstone urging the youngsters to seize the moment in what is the tourists’ penultimate ODI series before next year’s Champions Trophy.

“If somebody comes in and shows something we haven’t already got, they can leapfrog people very quickly,” said Livingstone, who will captain England for the first time in Buttler’s absence.

“There’s a lot of untapped talent and we are going to see some of that. Hopefully there will be someone within this group where people say, ‘remember that series we had in the West Indies when so-and-so made a name for themselves?’

“I have no doubt that someone or even a couple of guys will put their hand forward. The strength in depth we have in English cricket, when you look at the boys we are missing, to the squad we’ve still got here, it’s pretty exciting.

“There’s going to be a lot of debuts over the next few weeks. It’s about time we threw them in at the deep end and see what they’re all about.”

Livingstone intends to rely on wicketkeeper Phil Salt and allrounder Sam Curran for advice in the field after being appointed to oversee the side, just two months on from being initially dropped to face Australia.

The 31-year-old barged his way back in with some brutish T20 form coupled with an injury setback for Buttler and capitalised with a couple of swaggering innings, including the fastest ODI fifty at Lord’s against Mitch Marsh’s men.

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