Liam Livingstone to Captain England in West Indies Tour

Liam Livingstone will lead England during their white-ball tour of the West Indies stepping in for Jos Buttler, who has sidelined himself with a calf injury.  Buttler, 34, has not played since the T20 World Cup in June and will miss the three one-day internationals in the Caribbean.

However, he will remain part of the squad as captain for the subsequent five-match T20 series. Uncapped Essex wicketkeeper Michael Pepper joins the ODI squad as Livingstone, 31, prepares to captain England for the first time in the ODI series due to Buttler’s absence.

This marks a significant turnaround for Liam Livingstone, who originally missed out on the ODI squad for the recent series against Australia but received a call-up to replace the injured Buttler. England describes Buttler’s injury as “slight,” yet concerns are growing as he has experienced three calf injuries since 2021.

He initially ruled himself out of The Hundred but retained his captaincy for England’s squads against Australia last month. Unfortunately, he had to withdraw from the T20 series and hoped to return for the five ODIs only to pull out again.

Harry Brook captained England in the ODI series against Australia during Buttler’s absence but he will not join the squad for the West Indies tour due to his commitments with the Test team in Pakistan.

The England squad for the tour includes Jos Buttler (captain for T20 series only), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Jafer Chohan, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Michael Pepper, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley and John Turner with two more players expected to join from the Test squad currently in Pakistan.