Describing how he was left out by England last summer, Livingstone 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].
“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.
“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.”
After Livingstone publicly raised a lack of contact from Key, the former England batter told Sky Sports: “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.”
Livingstone said he eventually spoke to Key in September, when the lack of communication was discussed.
Livingstone said Key told him he had “100 more important things to do than speak to you”.
Though Livingstone believes he will not play for England again under the current management, England have insisted the door remains open for his selection. England also dispute the nature of the conversation between Key and Livingstone.
Livingstone’s place in the England team went to fellow all-rounder Will Jacks, who won four player-of-the-match awards at the T20 World Cup and was named in the team of the tournament.
Livingstone, who has played exactly 100 matches for England across formats, won his only Test cap in Pakistan in 2022 and stood in as white-ball captain at the end of 2024, said: “I didn’t miss it one bit.”
Referring to the T20 World Cup, he said: “There wasn’t any part of me that was wishing I was playing in that team, to be honest.”
Livingstone will now link up with Sunrisers Hyderabad for the Indian Premier League, then return to England to play for Lancashire in the Blast and London Spirit in The Hundred.