Feb 16, 2012

Essex express Tymal Mills is currently enjoying a well deserved few days rest after an intense winter. The left-arm teenage whirlwind was named in the ECB's potential England Performance Programme squad in September spending 3 weeks at Loughborough concentrating on strength and conditioning before moving onto South Africa for a three-week training camp. He was then was set to go to Chennai with the main EPP when he received a call to change direction having been called into the England Lions party for their tour to Bangladesh.

"All that gave me a superb opportunity to showcase what I can do but I will admit that the call-up to the England Lions squad came as a huge surprise," he said.

Former England batsman Mark Ramprakash said last season that Mills was the fastest bowler he had faced for some while in theCountyChampionshipand, having already been clocked at 90 m.p.h., the young teenage tornado believes he can get faster.

"Before I went toSouth Africa, I was working on strength, conditioning and fitness and I believe I am in better shape now than I was last year," he revealed.

"I wasn't able to notice whether I was bowling faster when I was inBangladeshbecause the pitches out there don't offer a lot for the pace bowlers but I really enjoyed the tour and being around guys whom have played forEnglandalready so in that respect, it was good to earn and bounce off them".

In cricket terms, it was an eye-opener and a difficult place to go and it took me a little while to get into the tour. I spent a lot of time bowling in the nets and I only actually played in the one game but I managed to get a wicket and didn't go for too many runs (1 for 22 in 7 tidy overs) but overall the tour was a great experience.

Twelve months ago, the 19 year-old bowler was part of theEssexAcademy. He made his first team debut for the County last June against Sri Lanka, when Test opener Tharanga Paranavitana became his maiden first class victim, and after three more first-class appearances, he was rewarded with his first professional contract at Essex in September before rounding off the calendar year with selection for the England Lions. A quite amazing advance for the 6ft 2in player, who was part of the Essex Academy squad 12 months ago.

Now, after a well-earned break he is turning his attention to the forthcoming domestic season. "I'll be back at Chelmsford next week preparing for pre-season," he continued. "We've got a few friendlies in March so hopefully I can do well in them and come the 5th April, I will have done enough to get into the side for the start of the season.

"My immediate priority for the forthcoming season is to establish myself as a regular in the first team at Essex. I'll be working hard on the basics and my skills to give me the opportunity of having a successful career in cricket.

"So much has happened in the last 12 months, I've been lucky enough to get so many opportunities but I've enjoyed every minute of it, it's like living a dream," he acknowledged.