Liam Livingstone has revealed he is set to miss all of England 's T20 World Cup warm-up games against Australia, but is targeting a return against Pakistan ahead of the tournament starting.
Livingstone, who played a crucial all-round role for England at last year's World Cup, has been out of action since August after injuring his ankle during The Hundred. The 29-year-old actually suffered the injury after tripping on a kerb and sustained ligament damage, which initially left him worried he could miss the World Cup altogether.
England had several players dealing with injuries leading into the tournament, with Mark Wood and Chris Woakes returning from long lay-offs last month against Pakistan and captain Jos Buttler starring in the first warm-up game against Australia after spending almost two months on the sidelines.
And while England are concerned Livingstone could miss their World Cup opener against Afghanistan, the man himself is more optimistic. "In my head I'm aiming for the warm-up game against Pakistan but if I push it too hard, too early you knock yourself back," he told the PA news agency.
"We're trying to get that balance right; push it as hard as we can without aggravating it. I wouldn't want to go into a game not being 100 per cent.
"Ultimately, there's no selfish reasons to do that. I don't think that's the right thing for me to do and I don't think it's the right thing to do for the lads.
"We've got an unbelievable squad out here and I certainly wouldn't want to be representing my country at 90 per cent. It's improving really quickly. It's got much better quicker than I thought it was going to.
"Finally we're at the exciting part of the rehab, we're getting close and can see light at the end of the tunnel. I'm excited to be back out there and back playing."
And Livingstone believes the break the injury has allowed him to have has "done me the world of good". He added: "I've seen this injury as a real positive for me because it's given me time to get away from cricket.
"I went away for a holiday with my family to Portugal and literally came back a new man, you don't quite realise it until you've done it. Mentally the break's done me the world of good."
