Former England cricketer Sir Geoffrey Boycott has questioned Liam Livingstone‘s place in the limited-overs side after his consistent failures as an all-rounder. Sir Geoffrey Boycott stated that he has hardly understood Liam Livingstone‘s role in the side as he has hardly seen him deliver the goods.
The England players who hit the golf course on Sunday morning probably did the right thing, really. Back at the team hotel they were replaying the defeat against Australia the previous night on a jumbo‑sized screen, with the gentle flute muzak in the lobby barely softening the sight of Josh Inglis going gangbusters.
Liam Livingstone’s poor form in Champions Trophy 2025
Plenty went back to their own struggle to tee off with the bat. At the 30-over mark, England were 200 with just two down, only to finish 351 for eight. It was their highest score at a global event, the highest by any side at a Champions Trophy. But it was still only par and swiftly bumped down to No 2 as regards the second of those two records.
Well in excess was a must given the evening conditions that followed and Jos Buttler, among those to let things slip when holing out on 23, tried to mask his disappointment yet again. Australia were ruthless, while England did hint at improvement before things unspooled. But even with the semi-finals not yet out of reach, there are growing shades of Joe Root’s final days as Test captain here.
The more authentic post-match reaction came from Ben Duckett. In contrast to the Gordon Brown smile that Buttler has tried through this run of winter defeats, a glum Duckett admitted he was “pretty flat”. And not without good reason. After leaving India with a groin injury and questions swirling about his ability to kick on after starts, the opener’s wonderfully stitched 165 had set a platform for colleagues to exploit.
It’s here where, along with Buttler and Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone enters the conversation. The last recognised batter, strolling out at 280 for five with nine overs to go, Liam Livingstone muscled one typically brawny six to the short square boundary before taking on the longer one to perish for 14 off 17 balls. Had Jofra Archer not raided 21 at the death, a pretty convincing defeat would have become a shellacking.
In contrast to the late dew that fell at the back end of the chase, Livingstone said on Sunday that two softening balls and a slowing pitch were the problem. And in fairness, No 7 is a tough, specialist role; sometimes tasked with putting out a fire, other times needing to squeeze the trigger from the get-go. But just shy of 100 white-ball caps – 37 one-day internationals, 60 Twenty20s – and a senior in the squad aged 31, these are also the moments across five International Cricket Council tournaments he is still truly to seize.
Indeed, despite some bilateral success these past 12 months, Liam Livingstone averages 15.4 with the bat when there is a global trophy at stake, with a best of 33. That 33 is also the closest he has come to nailing the role on the big stage, only to be caught hitting into the wind needing 25 from 17 balls to beat South Africa in the T20 World Cup last year. Had he got England over the line, the far trickier semi‑final against India, on a turner in Guyana, would have been swerved.
For all this, Liam Livingstone is one of the first names in the XI, those leggies and off-breaks – a creditable one for 47 from seven overs on Saturday night – making him England’s next best spin option after Adil Rashid. They have slightly painted themselves into a corner with the squad overall, as the reserves are Tom Banton, a top‑order bat, and three quicks in Saqib Mahmood, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton.
All-rounder Liam Livingstone and dashing opening batter Phil Salt have both stepped in for Buttler in the past as captain. The pair tick the box of white ball specialists, but there is a strong argument against them both being in the England side going forward after underwhelming Champions Trophy campaigns.
Since smashing his only ODI hundred to date, an unbeaten 124 off 85 balls against the West Indies in November, which like Brook he made as captain, Liam Livingstone has scored only 94 runs at 13.42 in seven matches. Salt meanwhile has fared little better with 122 runs at 20.33 in six ODIs so far this year.
England legend Geoffrey Boycott questions all-rounder Liam Livingstone’s place after consistent failures in white-ball cricket
Former England cricketer Sir Geoffrey Boycott has questioned Liam Livingstone’s place in the limited-overs side after his consistent failures as an all-rounder. Boycott stated that he has hardly understood Livingstone’s role in the side as he has hardly seen him deliver the goods.
Having made his 50-overs international debut in 2021, the 31-year-old averages 31.07 with the bat and 39.28 with the ball in 39 matches. The Champions Trophy 2025 saw him manage only 33 runs and take three wickets at 33 apiece. England were out of the tournament in the group stage itself without any win.
In his column for The Telegraph, Boycott wrote that he has heard about Liam Livingstone’s hard-hitting abilities but has hardly seen the goods from the all-rounder. He wrote:
“Does Liam Livingstone know what his role is? In fact, does anyone know what his role is because I don’t. He comes in whatever the state of the game and whacks a couple of boundaries and then gets out. There is a lot of talk about how destructive a hitter he is but for me he rarely delivers.”
With Jamie Smith getting to double figures only once in the tournament after being promoted to No.3, Boycott suggested that Joe Root should have batted at that slot. He wrote:
“Jamie Smith as a No 3 was ridiculous. Smith has done well as a newcomer to Test cricket but if I was an England batsman selected for the 50-over team and they promoted a wicketkeeper to bat in front of me I would be insulted and mad as hell.”
England will need a complete reset of their white-ball reset, having been inconsistent for a few years now, especially since winning the 2019 World Cup. Although they won the T20 World Cup in 2022, the Englishmen failed to defend it in 2024 and relinquished the 50-over crown in 2023.
Geoffrey Boycott also hit out at Phil Salt, claiming that he is not a proper ODI batter as he plays the slog quite frequently and added:
“For me, Salt is a T20 dasher. He rarely ever plays an important innings that impacts on a match. Too often it is a slog or two in between a proper stroke without looking as if he will stay in and make a substantial contribution that will impact the match.”
The Englishmen’s next 50-overs assignment is in May-June at home against England.