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England all-rounder Liam Livingstone played down speculations of a rift in the dressing room after the defending champions suffered their fourth consecutive defeat in the 2023 ICC World Cup.
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Jos Buttler’s men were outplayed once again, this time at the hands of tournament hosts India in Lucknow, despite winning the toss and restricting their opponents to a modest 229/9. The Indians responded with a clinical bowling display, led by Mohammed Shami (4/22) and Jasprit Bumrah (3/32), that resulted in England getting shot out for 129.
With five defeats in six outings, Buttler and Co remain at the bottom of the table an some, including former England captain Eoin Morgan, felt not all was well in the English dressing room. Livingstone, who top-scored for his side with a 46-ball 27, however denied any of that.
“Everybody in the dressing room has got immense respect for Morgs (Morgan) but hand on heart I can tell you there is nothing going on in the dressing room. Everybody is working as hard to try and turn this around,” Livingstone said in the post-match press conference after England’s 100-run defeat in Lucknow.
Morgan, who led England to their only ICC World Cup triumph in the 2019 edition at home, felt something was “unsettled” in the team. Morgan also said he had not come across a side that had underperformed the way Buttler’s men did in their shambolic title defence this year.
“I’ve never come across a sports team that has underperformed like this England team, given the level of expectation that is on their shoulders.
“There’s something within the team that is definitely unsettled. The method, which they’re trying to use and given the substantial nature in which they’ve lost the games, it is definitely called into question, the morale within the changing room and the confidence.
“It must be at its lowest that it’s been for a considerable period of time now,” Morgan told ‘Sky Sports’.
When asked about the conditions at the Ekana Stadium, which hasn’t been as batting friendly as most of the other venues in the ongoing mega event, Livingstone said it was “difficult” but “not horrendous”.
“This is is 50 over cricket, IPL is T20 cricket. It is a very different game. We are not just playing good enough cricket at the moment
“It was a difficult pitch there was a bit of spin also. The ball came on nicely in the evening. I did not think it was a horrendous surface,” Livingstone added.
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