Lancashire batsman Liam Livingstone has withdrawn from the upcoming IPL Auction on December 19 as he has decided to play a full season of Division one County Cricket with an aim to make it to the England Test squad.
Livingstone was recently released by Rajasthan Royals before the end of the retention period. He was bought by the franchise at his base price of INR 50 Lakh in the 2019 IPL Auction. Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer were some of the other England players playing with him for the Rajasthan Royals. Livingstone featured in four matches for them during the 2019 edition during which he scored 71 runs, which included a best of 44 off just 26 deliveries against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“It was a fantastic experience to play for the Rajasthan Royals last year,” Livingstone said. “I loved every second, learned a lot, the boys were great and I was delighted to play my part. However, I’m going to have an increased focus on red-ball cricket next summer, so the decision was made to stay in England for this.
“I loved the experience of playing in the IPL, but I have decided to put a renewed focus on first-class cricket next summer. I am committed to improving my game in all formats and I still have hopes of playing Test cricket; the best way to achieve that is by impressing in Division One.”
The 26-year-old had a good county season last year during which he amassed 599 runs at an average of 46.07. That was a huge improvement from his previous season tally of 336 runs, which came at a dismal average of 24.
Although Livingstone will play the full County Championship season and the T20 Blast, he will have to skip the One-Day Cup due to his association with the Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred. He is playing in the ongoing Mzansi Super League for Cape Town Blitz and has also registered himself for the Pakistan Super League draft. Not only that, but he will also feature for the Perth Scorchers in the upcoming Big Bash League as he is also focused on making it to England’s T20 squad for the World Cup in Australia next year.