Tymal Mills: England T20 bowler looks to positives of back condition

You could have forgiven Tymal Mills for retiring and moving on from cricket when he was diagnosed with a congenital back condition in 2015.

But the 24-year-old, whose spinal cord and vertebrae are closer together than is normal, set his sights on becoming the best Twenty20 player possible.

The Sussex fast bowler, who regularly bowls in excess of 90 miles per hour, is in the squad for England’s T20 game against Pakistan on Wednesday after making his debut against Sri Lanka in July.

Mills’ condition means that he is unable to play in longer formats of the game, as lots of bowling can aggravate his spinal cord. He has not bowled with a red ball for 18 months and it is unlikely that he will return to multi-day cricket.

“If this is going to be all I am doing now for the rest of my career, I want to do it right. I want to play in the big games and play to the highest level that I can,” Mills told BBC Sport.

“I miss having a short leg, three slips and a gully sometimes, but on the flip side of that I can’t say I miss doing 96 overs in a day. “I am at peace with it, it’s been 18 months since the reoccurrence of my back injury. I’m over it and I am grateful I can still play and I can still play to a good level.”(BBC,2016)