World Cup 2023: Stokes' presence will boost our hopes of defending the title - Liam Livingstone

 

England cricketer Liam Livingstone believes that Ben Stokes can play an important role in defending the title in the ICC World Cup 2023. Livingstone stressed that Ben Stokes' contribution was crucial in winning both the ODI (2019) and T20 (2022) World Cups. Ben Stokes had announced his retirement from ODI format last year. However, he announced his retirement from retirement before the World Cup 2023. 

Livingstone said, "It's massive. The experience of 2019 probably helped us last year with the boys we have in 2022. Certainly Ben Stokes, in particular, has played a big role in 2019, I have no doubt that it gave them the clarity to do it at 22. We have a lot of experience in our group, a lot of cricket is played in our area. The boys have very good memories of the World Cup, the last two World Cups were good. So hopefully we can keep it going."

He further added, "It's great. Any team with Ben Stokes is a better team. Everyone loves being around Ben, not just on the pitch but also in the changing room away from the cricket. He is a great Is competitive and I think anyone in the world will have Ben Stokes in their team. It's a huge boost for us and I'm sure Ben is looking forward to it."

Under the captaincy of Jos Buttler, England will start their World Cup campaign with a match against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5. The World Cup 2023 warm-up match between England and India, played today at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati, was canceled due to rain. 

England's World Cup squad: Jos Buttler (captain/wicketkeeper), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.