A tale of two think-tanks Premium

Explore the contrasting management styles of England and India cricket teams, highlighting player support and development challenges faced by Liam Livingstone and Sanju Samson.

Liam Livingstone isn’t just a journeyman cricketer. He has represented England in exactly 100 internationals across all three formats, is a World Cup winner (T20, Australia, 2022) and briefly captained the One-Day International side in a series against West Indies in November 2024.

The 32-year-old is more than a bits-and-pieces player, as a 20-over average of 28.00 at a strike-rate of 144.70 and 148 wickets at an economy of 8.48 across 340 matches will attest. He is a fantastic ball-striker, a finisher — a role much in demand — and he can bowl off-spin and leg-spin with equal felicity. He is a rare commodity in the modern game, especially in the T20 format where the decided onus is on all-round skills — oh, and did we say he is a gun fielder too?

Livingstone hasn’t played for England for more than a year now, since the 50-over Champions Trophy loss to South Africa in Karachi. His last T20I appearance came a month before that, against India in Mumbai in early February 2025. When he was dropped, Livingstone didn’t have too many complaints; he didn’t have a great T20I tour of India, and his last six ODI innings produced a mere 88 runs. Three of those knocks came at the Champions Trophy, when he made 14, 10 and 9 while batting at No. 7. England lost all three games and were knocked out at the league stage; Livingstone believed at the time that that was the beginning of his problems. Little did he know then how they would spiral beyond control.

In a recent interview with ESPNcricinfo that is scathing of the English management, he has called the Champions Trophy ‘the worst experience I’ve had playing cricket’. “I was asking for help and pretty much all I got was that I care too much and I need to chill out a little bit, and everything will take care of itself.”

England’s first assignment after the Champions Trophy was a home series against West Indies, and Livingstone was promptly dropped. Livingstone has revealed that he got a call from Brendon McCullum, the all-format coach, who told him that they wanted to ‘try someone else’. There was a text message from Harry Brook, the white-ball skipper, and nothing at all from Luke Wright, the outgoing selector, Livingstone has maintained. And he has said that when he rang Rob Key, the managing director, the former international batter apparently told him that he was ‘busy’ at a Test camp in Loughborough.

Damning indictment