Liam Livingstone stakes claim for middle-order spot for England in first Test with confident warm-up display

Unlike his medical namesake, Liam Livingstone introduced himself. In his first innings on an England Test tour Lancashire’s 24 year-old captain - an original character and cricketer - scored 88 off 113 balls to apply for an England middle-order position in the first Test which starts on Thursday afternoon in Auckland.

But even more significant than the number of runs Livingstone scored was the presence he radiated. As soon as Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss made their first runs in a practice game for England they went into Duncan Fletcher’s batting line-up, and it will be surprising if Livingstone’s controlled pugnacity does not make a similar impression on the current head coach Trevor Bayliss.

Overall England’s first dress rehearsal - they bat a second time on Saturday - was rather wretched and rusty as they scored 317 runs for the loss of 14 wickets against the pink ball which wobbled around when new, whether by day or night. “The first two sessions were indifferent for us but it was about getting the guys up to speed and making them aware they’ve got a Test next week,” said England’s batting coach Graham Thorpe who has replaced Mark Ramprakash for this leg.

As for Livingstone, Thorpe said: "In a way people may say he’s not in the potential starting XI but he’s proved today, busy at the crease, intent, and shown the coaches what he’s capable of. For a few of the guys it’s a reminder, a bit of a kick up the backside, that you’ve got to get up to speed pretty quickly.” Without Livingstone England could have been bowled out twice in a day, which would not have looked good after the assorted New Zealand players had scored 376 runs for ten wickets on Wednesday.

The first revelation of Livingstone’s character had come with his first touch of the ball on Wednesday. From cover he had chased down to third man, dived, tweaked something that made him hobble for the rest of the session - not that he admitted anything to the medical staff - but still threw on the full to the far end to try for a run-out, not to the keeper. Livingstone is of the same unvarnished Cumbrian background as Ben Stokes: he does not take easy options.

Soon after Livingstone went in to bat, England were 65 for five and Stokes was jogging round the ground to the nets to tell Moeen Ali to get kitted up.  Livingstone had played two T20 internationals last summer after he was miscast as a white-ball hitter and offspinner, when he should have been fast-tracked as a red-ball batsman and legspinner.

Livingstone conveys his intent by crouching and leaning forwards. He ducked his first ball and cover-drove his second and third balls for four and two with a strong bottom hand. He led Bairstow in a counterattack - a rare phenomenon - until Bairstow edged a drive to second slip. According to Livingstone, the team’s instruction had been to play it like a Test match - and England’s score at the first interval was 114 for six off 27 overs.

Bayliss at the start of this tour called on his batsmen to score 160s but Livingstone was only halfway there when he chased a wide ball at the start of the final session. James Vince also batted well in his second innings, which might have saved his place at number three, before copping a poor lbw decision to a full toss swinging down legside. But Livingstone’s time will surely come.

Alastair Cook scored only 44 in his two innings but was so well-balanced from the start that he offdrove in his first over. Joe Root made an unbeaten 50 in his second innings while the lights took effect. The troubling case was that of Mark Stoneman who scored three runs in his two innings - not because he nicked a ball that bounced and left him in the morning but because his second innings hinted at fatalism and ended in a mis-judged pull. Stoneman might be missing his old Durham captain Paul Collingwood, who has gone to coach North v South in Barbados, and needs someone to pump up the tyres of his self-esteem.