Livingstone, who has not played international cricket since last year’s Champions Trophy, was highly critical of the England set-up and suggested that his chances of a recall relied on a change in management.

He accused the set-up of avoiding “difficult conversations” after minimal contact before his central contract expired, and claimed that Key had told him he had “100 more important things to do” than speak to him about his prospects of selection.

Key, whose position as managing director was confirmed as safe on Monday, said that England had considered recalling Livingstone for their white-ball tour to Sri Lanka in January. He added that he remains in contention for selection moving forwards, challenging him to prove that he is “back to his best [and] scoring runs”.

“Look, I’m not going to go into private conversations,” Key told Sky Sports News. “Obviously, there’s another side to that conversation as I saw it. What I did say to Liam at the end of what was a fairly tetchy phone call to say the least [was that] there’s no way I see a player of Liam Livingstone’s ability not being up for selection for England.

“We debated him for the Sri Lanka series. Liam Livingstone is very much a player that we would love to see back to his best, scoring runs, and then back in the England set-up.

“We thought as much of him [as] to make him captain at one stage, when we didn’t have all the senior players there,” Key added, referring to an ODI series against West Indies in late 2024. “That’s how highly we thought of him. I still have a huge amount of time for Liam Livingstone and there’s no [reason] that someone at 32’s England career should be over.”

Livingstone suggested that the England environment operated as a clique, saying: “If you’re in, you’re in, and if you’re not in, no-one cares about you.” Key denied that claim, though the ECB’s review into England’s Ashes defeat focused heavily on team culture and promised new expectations on “team behaviours” after sloppy off-field conduct this winter.

“You’re always going to have times where, unfortunately, in these roles – especially when you’re struggling – you’re always going to have people that you’ve upset along the way coming back at you, and that’s absolutely fine,” Key said.

“You can’t do these jobs keeping absolutely everyone happy, whether you’re the coach of England, whether you’re in my role, any role of leadership, you’re always going to have people who are upset and that’s part of life. But ultimately Liam Livingstone, or any of these players at the start of the summer in county cricket, they’re a chance to play for England.”

Livingstone arrived in India last week ahead of a new IPL season, and could make his debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad – who signed him for Rs 13 crore (£1.06 million approx.) in December’s auction – against his old franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Saturday.