Tymal Mills feared his career was over before it had begun. Now, as a T20 specialist, he has a chance to impress the biggest market in the game
Vishal Dikshit at Kanpur24-Jan-2017The chaos of Kanpur had found its way into the Media Centre at Green Park. It was hard to silence all the journalists so that an England player could start talking, the microphone blared out odd noises once he did start to talk, and an air conditioner came on abruptly, immediately followed by loud demands for it to be switched off again. But it wasn’t.Amid all this cacophony, Tymal Mills – England’s left-arm quick – was focussed on the job at hand, just as he is on playing Twenty20 cricket around the world. “Miles”, as one journalist called him, is an unintentional moniker that suits Mills rather well, both for the distance he has travelled across countries and for the speed at which he bowls.Since playing his only international T20 to date, against Sri Lanka last summer, Mills has played 19 20-over contests in four different countries – in the NatWest T20 Blast, the Bangladesh Premier League, the Super Smash tournament in New Zealand and, most recently, Australia’s Big Bash League.Mills has been restricted to playing T20 cricket by a congenital back condition, and he said he last picked up a red ball “nearly two years ago” when he was forced into retirement from first-class cricket at the age of 22. After arriving in Kanpur, Mills said he was focused on playing only T20s, bowling at express pace, and making the most of T20 tournaments around the world. He has ruled out playing 50-over cricket for now.”I’m not looking that far ahead at the moment,” he said. “I’ve played 16-17 games so far this winter consecutively, I’m injury-free and I’m only 24, and I’ve spent a lot of time being injured. It’s not much fun so I don’t want to put myself at risk, actually, I want to keep healthy, keep enjoying playing cricket which I am at the moment.”I’m having a great time travelling around, seeing the world, playing in different competitions. I’m playing well because my body is feeling good, it gives me confidence in my cricket, I don’t want to jeopardise that at the moment. I’m only 24, you don’t know what could happen but in the near future. I’m only looking to play T20 if I’m honest.”The problematic thing with the symptoms and the injury I have, it kind of goes nowhere and that is a result of over-bowling. I’ve found a nice routine at the moment, of what I can and can’t do. As I said, it’s worked so far this winter, so I’ve been smart about how I’ve trained and how I’ve practised and how I’ve played. So obviously I’ll look to continue that in the future.”Tymal Mills made his T20 debut against Sri Lanka last summer•Getty ImagesDespite his injury, Mills was headstrong about not compromising on speed, one of his biggest assets which excited captain Eoin Morgan and coach Trevor Bayliss a few months ago. He once bowled Chris Gayle with a mean yorker at 93.3mph in the early overs of a NatWest T20 Blast match, and he clocks speeds in excess of 90mph almost at will.”I clocked 150 (>93mph) a few times in the Big Bash, which was good,” he said. “I’m always going to try and bowl quick. If I’m opening the bowling or bowling in the Powerplay, I’m going to come in and bowl hard because that’s why I’ve been selected, really. But you’ve got to be smart because the faster you bowl, the faster it can go [off the bat] if you’re bowling against some high-class batters, as it will be this series. It’ll be a great experience just to see where I’m at. You’ve got to mix your pace up and mix your skills. But I’ll always look to bowl quicker.”Bowling only in T20s is a double-edged sword for Mills; it limits him to one format but it also makes him a specialist gun-for-hire for the leagues around the world. And, to participate in a T20 series in India in the weeks leading up to the IPL auction in February means that he will be in the sport’s biggest shop window in the coming weeks of England duty.”I’m available for the whole of the competition, whereas some other guys aren’t for various commitments internationally and domestically, so I’m sure this series will either help or hinder my reputation.”Financially I don’t earn very much in the UK playing for Sussex because I’m playing only T20 cricket, I now have to play these T20 tournaments around the world in terms of getting paid. If I get injured, then obviously I don’t play in these tournaments and that affects me in a different way. Some of my insecurities are a little bit less now, but that’s just the way things have played out, and I’m really grateful I can still play and I can still travel and still experience things.”Two years ago, Mills’ diagnosis led him to fear that his career was over before it had begun. Now, instead, he is counting his blessings and soaking up the experiences as they stack up before him.”Being at the ODI the other night in front of 70,000 in Kolkata, that was the type of environment you want to play in,” he said. “I played in New Zealand where the crowds were pretty small, so you’ve to find a way to get yourself up for it, in that atmosphere the adrenaline isn’t as high. And then going into the Big Bash was completely different where you were playing in front of 50,000 at the MCG.”Essentially, everything I do now is geared towards the best T20 player I can be – in batting, bowling and fielding. It’s tough for the other guys, they play Test matches and spend a lot of time preparing for that, whereas every ball I bowl is with the white ball. So I just bowl the white Kookaburra, practising my T20 skills, that’s all my attention is given to so hopefully that will give me an edge or at least accelerate my development moving forward.”
