West Indies lead England 2-1 in the best-of-five T20 series; the fourth and fifth matches take place in Trinidad on Tuesday and Thursday, both starting at 8pm GMT; Phil Salt's first T20 international century set England for a seven-wicket win in the third T20 on Saturday
Tuesday 19 December 2023 07:21, UK
A man was shot dead on the same road as where the England and West Indies cricket teams are staying in Port of Spain for the final two T20s of the series this week.
The PA news agency understands England's players were told ahead of arriving in Trinidad that leaving the Hyatt Regency hotel was prohibited, except for cricketing reasons and a prearranged round of golf.
England's first match in Trinidad in 14 years on Tuesday is not in jeopardy and a team spokesperson confirmed there will be no change to their security arrangements.
Police on the island confirmed to PA an investigation has been launched following the killing of a man on Wrightson Road, which is where England's hotel is located, just after 1am on Sunday morning.
Trinidad and Tobago has the sixth-highest crime rate in the world, while the UK Government's travel advice states: "Gang-related attacks and shootings are increasing around the city centre of Port of Spain."
Liam Livingstone's 30 off 18 balls kept England on course to chase down 223 against the West Indies on Saturday, underpinned by Phil Salt's unbeaten century, keeping the tourists in the series with two matches remaining.
"I couldn't tell you how many fifties or hundreds I score any more," Livingstone said. "It's all about how many games that you can impact and winning games for your team. I'd much rather get 30 off 18 balls than 50 off 40 balls.
"Milestones are actually pretty meaningless in T20 cricket, it's all about how you can affect the game and how you can win games. It was unbelievable for Salty to get a hundred but I think he'll be much more pleased he's seen an England team over the line by hitting sixes than getting a hundred for England."
After averaging 10 in England's doomed defence of their World Cup crown, Livingstone has passed double figures in all three T20s against the Windies but his innings in Grenada on Saturday was his highest.
"Hopefully I'm back on an upward curve with my batting which has probably been on a downward curve for the last couple of months," he said. "I've felt really good in this series, really clear and like I'm heading in the right direction. With two games left hopefully one of them I can go on, get a big score and win a game for England.
"The best thing for us is it feels like from the start of the series to where we are now, we feel like we're learning. I feel like we've taken a big step forward and ultimately that's what we want to do.
"Obviously we want to win this series but there's a World Cup coming up. There's a lot of focus on that and hopefully these next two games can give us a lot of confidence."
The five-match series now moves to Trinidad and Tobago for the final two fixtures on December 19 and December 21, both starting at 8pm. Stream cricket and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - just £21 a month for six months.
