England cricket team, or the Bazballers as they are called, seem to be digressing from the core belief they headed out with at the start of the Bazball era in 2022. The primary goal was to provide entertainment and play cricket for the people, not personal milestones.
But one of the most entertaining fans’ player, Liam Livingstone, has lashed out at the same management. Livingstone, whom the Sunrisers Hyderabad signed for Rs 13 crore in the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, said that the way this management functions, it has made it difficult for him to play under them ever again.
Speaking on the treatment he received from the leadership group—led by Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum, and Rob Key—the Hyderabad marquee signing described the experience as a “bit of an eye-opening” realization
What did Livingstone say?
Livingstone revealed that his exclusion was handled with staggering brevity. Describing a phone call from head coach Brendon “Baz” McCullum, Livingstone, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo, said: “I don’t think [the call] would have reached a minute. I asked why, they said they wanted to try someone else. That was off Baz [McCullum].”
The lack of professional courtesy continued with Managing Director Rob Key. “Keysy said nothing – he said ‘I’ll speak to you in the summer’. I actually rang him one day, and he said he was busy at a Test camp at Loughborough. And then I didn’t hear off him until the end of September.”
The “100 More Important Things” Row
The situation reached a boiling point when Livingstone publicly raised the lack of contact. According to Livingstone, Key told him he had “100 more important things to do than speak to you.“
Key later responded to the criticism on Sky Sports, saying: “I don’t know if he’s got a phone, if he’s allowed to ring, he’s 32 years of age – it’s not hard. If you want to find out where you are, you’ve got my number, mate.”
Focus Shifting to IPL 2026
For Livingstone, the bridge seems burned, but his financial stock remains high in India. “That was a bit of an eye-opening experience about the group and the regime: if you’re in, you’re in, and if you’re not in, no-one cares about you. That put my mind at ease that my cricket was going to be more enjoyable going forward.”
Referring to the T20 World Cup 2026, which saw India crowned champions, he added: “There wasn’t any part of me that was wishing I was playing in that team, to be honest.” Livingstone is now fully focused on justifying his Rs 13 crore price tag for SRH.