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Lightning Livingstone
Posted on July 17th, 2021Liam Livingstone became the third consecutive England player to take the lead in the chase for this year’s Walter Lawrence Trophy with a scorching 42-ball century against Pakistan in the 1st T20 International at Trent Bridge on July 16. Livingstone smashed two England T20 records in the process, the fastest 50 in 17 balls – eclipsing Eoin Morgan’s 21-balls – and the fastest hundred, beating Dawid Malan’s 48-baller.
Attempting to overhaul Pakistan’s huge total of 232 for 6, in what would have been an England record-chase, Livingstone stood tall as wickets fell around him, smoting 9 sixes and 6 fours in his innings of 103. Sadly, they fell short of their target but Livingstone’s brutally powerful knock, in only his sixth T20I, will surely have cemented his place in England’s squad for the T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman this autumn.
Born in Barrow-in-Furness on August 4, 1993, Livingstone’s belligerent batting ability first caught the public’s attention after scoring a massive 350 off 138 balls for his club side Nantwich in a Royal London National Club Championship match in 2015, thought to be one of the highest individual scores in one-day history. He joined Lancashire the same year and made his first-class debut for them in 2016 before attaining the club captaincy in 2018.
Following a stand-out performance for the England Lions side during the Ashes Winter of 2017/18, Livingstone was called up for England’s Test squad in 2018 and has since gained regular call-ups for the one-day squads. A right-hand bat, who bowls right-arm off-spin and leg-breaks, Livingstone has become a hot favourite in franchise cricket representing, among others, Rajasthan Royals, Karachi Kings, Perth Scorchers and Peshawar Zalmi.
England v Pakistan scorecard
Liam Livingstone’s career statistics
Amy SparklesAmy Jones has laid down a mighty impressive marker in the hunt for this year’s Walter Lawrence Women’s Award with an unbeaten innings of 163, scored for Central Sparks against Western Storm, in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy match at Birmingham on May 31.
Amy’s innings, scored off 114 balls and including 17 fours and 6 sixes, propelled her side to a total of 295-7 that set up a 41-run victory in the 50-over game. The in-form 28-year-old England wicket-keeper/batter’s sparkling knock followed a stirring run-a-ball 114 against Northern Diamonds two days previously.
Jones, born in Solihull, represented the Warwickshire Academy in her mid-teens, and began to be selected for England Development and Academy programmes. In 2011, when she was 18, she was called up to the England Women’s Academy at Loughborough University. Amy made her One-Day International debut for England in the 2013 World Cup, scoring 41 against Sri Lanka; her T20 International debut came five months later against Pakistan and she made her Test debut in 2019 against Australia.
A powerful striker of the ball, Amy has become an England regular across all formats since 2018, often opening the batting, and now ‘keeping on a permanent basis after Sarah Taylor’s retirement in 2019. As well as playing for Loughborough Lightning and Central Sparks, she has also represented Warwickshire Women, Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers.
The Walter Lawrence Trophy, now in its 87th year, is awarded for the fastest hundred of the season and is open to all domestic county competitions as well as One-Day Internationals, T20 Internationals, The Hundred and Test matches in England.The Walter Lawrence Women’s Award is awarded for the highest individual score in a season from ECB Women’s one-day competitions and all England Women’s matches played on home soil. The Walter Lawrence Schools Award is awarded for the highest score by a school batsman against MCC.