(Photo: Charlie Crowhurst / Getty Images)
By Richard Edwards
Tymal Mills has already had a 2017 to remember – despite being forced to put his feet up until the Big Bash as a result of ongoing hamstring problems.
Mills has capped his year by buying his first house, a purchase helped in no small part by the huge sum he earned playing for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in this season’s Indian Premier League (IPL).
It hasn’t been plain-sailing since his shock auction snap-up, with injuries curtailing both his IPL and domestic T20 season but Mills isn’t complaining.
Instead he’s looking to the future with a huge amount of confidence after being handed the chance to test himself in the world’s biggest T20 tournaments.
And he admits he’s still having to pinch himself three-quarters of the way through a crazy year.
“Some of the IPL money is pro-rated so I lost a decent chunk of it but I still got paid an amazing amount of money for the games I did play and it has helped me massively,” he says.
“I’ve bought my place now and that has set me up nicely moving forward. It’s crazy to think about the amounts you get paid for just playing six weeks of cricket but I’m certainly not complaining.”
Mills didn’t find the going easy in a Bangalore side that failed to qualify for the competition’s latter stages. The Sussex man, though, ttook a huge amount away from his first IPL experience.
“The IPL was crazy, it was obviously my first experience of it but I got looked after really well,” he says.
“Unfortunately I got injured halfway through the competition, which was a shame, but it was really good fun and hopefully I can go back there next year and show what I’m capable of.
“Every game was a big game because of the strength of the sides and the quality of the overseas’ players. I was pleased with how I did when I played and I didn’t feel out of place, out of my depth. Next year I want to go back and have a proper bash at it.”
Mills’ next assignment is likely to come in the Big Bash, with a lengthy period of rest required for the hamstring problems to that have blighted his T20 Blast season with Sussex.
He can then hop on the T20 merry-go-round once again, safe in the knowledge that another competition will soon be available to him a lot closer to home.
And he has no doubts that the city-based model can be as successful here as it has been elsewhere.
“I’m 100% behind the idea of introducing a similar competition here,” he says. “I’ve experienced the different comps around the world and as far as I’m concerned, the bigger the better really.
“When it happens in a couple of years we’ll be seeing the best players in the world here and I don’t see any reason for it to fail. I think it will be one of the best tournaments out there.”
Boundless is the new shirt sponsors for Sussex Cricket’s NatWest T20 Blast competition. Boundless, a membership organisation which helps Civil Servants and Public Sector workers get the most out of their free time, will have its logo proudly displayed on Sussex Sharks’ new NatWest T20 Blast shirt. For more information please visit www.boundless.co.uk.
