Cape Town Blitz’s overseas recruit Liam Livingstone and Ashwell Prince go back a long way. Nasri Alexander paints the picture of their relationship.
When Cape Town Blitz head coach Ashwell Prince called out the name Liam Livingstone as his first pick in the draft for the second edition of the Mzansi Super League, a few eyebrows were raised.
Not many of the cricket-loving public in South Africa know much about the Englishman but the hard-hitting batsman and coach Prince go back a long way.
Livingstone was just a sprightly 21-year-old when he made his T20 debut for English county Lancashire in May 2015 and walking to the crease with him to open the batting that day was Prince, who was the overseas professional at the time.
Recalling his memories of Prince the senior teammate, Livingstone said the hard-as-nails former Proteas international was one of the players all the youngsters in the Lancashire squad looked up to for guidance.
Sitting alongside Prince at the Cape Town Blitz season launch, Livingstone said: “I think Ashwell’s last year at Lancashire was my first year, so coming through at Lancashire, Ashwell was someone I would have looked up to.
“A lot of our young lads tried to model ourselves on Ashwell.
“It is great to be back with him and hopefully he can pass on some knowledge again and improve my game.”
It was also in 2015 that Lancashire went on to lift the T20 Blast title and Livingstone still counts it as one of the best moments in his career so far.
When talking about that magical night in Birmingham four years ago, he said: “We have some great memories of that night. One of the best nights of my career so far.
“Obviously seeing Ashwell again brings back those memories. Hopefully, we can do the same again this year.”
Livingstone has blossomed into one of the standout players on England’s domestic circuit and has already made his international debut, winning two T20I caps against the Proteas in 2017.
His record in the shortest format is outstanding with him having a strike-rate of more than 140 with the bat while he also bowls handy leg-spinners.
Obviously breaking into the current England side in the white-ball formats will be tough but Livingstone spoke about the buzz the World Cup victory has created in the country.
“I think if you look at cricket now in England it is almost seen as less boring than it was at the start of the year,” he said.
“I think it gives the young boys trying to get into that team how hard it is. It encourages us to work as hard as we can. That’s why these experiences around the world are great for us.
“It helps us playing in different conditions, so hopefully when I leave here in six weeks time I can be a better player.”
The Mzansi Super League gets underway on Friday at the Wanderers when the Cape Town Blitz travels to defending champions Jozi Stars.
Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
