ICC T20: The big English hope – Tymal Mills

It’s fair to say that if Jofra Archer was fit, Tymal Solomon Mills wouldn’t be part of the English T20 World Cup squad.

Yer, there is a genuine excitement about Mills being part of the English bowling attack.

The reason?

Well, Mills belongs to the rare breed of pacers who can clock deliveries faster than 150 kmph.

Liquid pace.

That’s what Mills can dish out and that’s a recipe which most batsmen don’t relish.

Early career

Mills was born on 12th August 1992, in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England.  

He only started playing cricket when he was 14.

He initially turned out for Mildenhall Cricket Club while studying at Mildenhall college of Technology.

He made his domestic debut for Suffolk from 2010 to 2013.

By the age of 19, he had forced his way into the Essex first team, abandoning a journalism course at the University of East London in the process.

He attracted instant hype.

Once, he topped 90mph in front of the Sky TV cameras and there were immediate calls for him to be drafted into the Test side who were being pulverised by Mitchell Johnson, at the time.

From Essex, he moved to Sussex which has been his club since 2015.

His career hit a roadblock when he was diagnosed with a spinal injury, with most medical experts claiming he wouldn’t be able to play at the highest level any more.

International career

His English T20 debut in 2016 came against Sri Lanka.

He performed excellently as England won this match by eight wickets.

Some stand-out performances for England against India led to Royal Challengers Bangalore recruiting him for £1.4m in the 2017 auction.

He was the second-highest-paid foreign player of the IPL of 2017.

While an injury cut his season short, he became a regular on the global T20 circuit.

England opted to leave him out of their T20I plans over the next few years due to injury.

Mills continued his T20 career with stints for Karachi Kings in 2018, Peshawar Zalmi in 2019 and Quetta Gladiators since 2020.

We hope that the ICC T20 World Cup will give the talented left-armer the opportunity to shine on a global stage.