LIAM Livingstone has taken plenty of encouragement from Lancashire’s performances in Twenty20 cricket this year after the side fell in the semi-finals of the Vitality Blast.

Red Rose skipper Livingstone and his team-mates were beaten by eventual winners Worcestershire in the first match of last Saturday’s finals day at Edgbaston.

The shortest format of the game has given the county something to savour in a year which saw them fail to reach the knock-out stages of the Royal London One-Day Cup and struggle in Division One of the County Championship.

And Barrow Cricket Club product Livingstone was enthused by Lancashire’s displays which took them to the finals day, even though they could not go on to win the competition.

“We’ve played some good white-ball cricket this year,” said Livingstone. “We’ve had a few hiccups here and there, but we’ve come back from them really strongly.

“Throughout the T20 campaign, I’ve been really pleased and really proud of the way the lads have played.

“We’ve been very brave at times and played some attacking cricket, and that’s what we set out to do at the start of the competition.

“White-ball wise I’m pretty happy with the way we’ve played.”

The semi-final against Worcestershire seemed to be going Lancs’ way when their opponents were 97 for 6, but an unbeaten 55 from Ben Cox helped them to 169 for 6.

Livingstone’s quickfire 30 from 18 balls and Keaton Jennings’ 51 not out could not help them reach the target though, with leading Vitality Blast wicket-taker Pat Brown taking 4 for 21 as Lancashire were restricted to 149 for 9.

“T20 cricket is like that, we were just outplayed on the day,” said Livingstone, who felt his side were always chasing the game.

“You look at the way Mo (Ali) played early on, it kind of got away from us a little bit and we were always trying to drag it back.

“And then the way Pat Brown bowled - trying to read his variations is pretty tough and he’s got a great method that has worked for him, and there’s a reason he’s right up there in the wicket-taking.

“It would have been nice to get into the final, but T20 cricket is a funny game; it only takes one person to come off and it can change a game.”

Lancashire now face a must-win game away to Hampshire in the final round of County Championship matches, starting next Monday.

Livingstone’s side not only need victory at the Rose Bowl, but also other results to go their way if they are to be certain of staying in the top flight for 2019.