Why is Liam Livingstone not playing today’s 1st T20I between Australia and England in Perth?

Why Liam Livingstone not playing today: England are playing a bilateral T20I in Australia after more than eight and a half years.

During the first T20I of England’s tour of Australia 2022 in Perth, Australia captain Aaron Finch has won the toss and chose to bowl.

Hosting England in a bilateral T20I after more than eight years, Australia have made as many as six changes to the Playing XI which had faced West Indies in Brisbane on the day before yesterday.

All-rounders Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams, fast bowlers Nathan Ellis and Kane Richardson and spinner Mitchell Swepson have been given an opportunity in this match.

While batter Steven Smith has been left out for the second time in the last week, all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, fast bowlers Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood and spinner Adam Zampa have all been rested. Readers must note that the pentad hasn’t traveled to the West Coast and are highly likely to return for the second T20I in Canberra on Wednesday.

Why is Liam Livingstone not playing today vs Australia?

A colossal shot in the arm for the visitors has been the return of regular white-ball captain Jos Buttler. Playing a representative match for the first time after seven weeks, Buttler hasn’t looked rusty at all on the back of hitting as many as four overs in the first Cameron Green over at the Perth Stadium.

As far as their overall combination for this match is concerned, England have made three changes to the XI which had played the last T20I in Pakistan a week ago.

Buttler, all-rounder Ben Stokes and fast bowler Mark Wood have been included into the Playing XI for wicket-keeper batter Phil Salt, batter Ben Duckett and all-rounder David Willey.

Batter Liam Livingstone, who had this stadium as his home ground during his stint for Perth Scorchers, continues to recover from an ankle injury. Much like Buttler, Livingstone also has not playing any form of cricket since The Hundred 2022 in August.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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