Hurricanes seal deal on English pace ace

THE Hobart Hurricanes have announced their first international signing for BBL07, with English paceman Tymal Mills agreeing to a two-year contract with the club.

Mills was contracted with the Brisbane Heat in last year’s BBL tournament but managed just two games. The strike bowler will now look to cement a permanent spot in the Hurricanes side.

“I want to make it a longlasting relationship, so I’m pleased to sign on for a couple of seasons,” Mills said.

“The Big Bash is a great tournament. I’ve been watching it at home for the last few years now. I was really pleased when my agent gave me the call.”

Mills’ signing is likely to boost the Hurricanes attack, which has lost key pacemen Ben Hilfenhaus and Shaun Tait in the past two seasons.

“Whenever I take the new ball I look to come hard – bowl fast, bowl my bouncers and use the pace and angle that I’ve got,” Mills said.

“If there is any extra bounce in the surfaces we play on, then hopefully I’ll exploit that.”

Mills recently competed in England’s Natwest T20 blast taking five wickets over four games for Sussex, including a haul of 3-20 against Surrey.

“I like to think I’m suited to most wickets, so hopefully we can get some nice ones this summer,” Mills said.

“At the end of innings I like to mix up my pace, get some yorkers in and slower balls as well.”

The left-armer was purchased earlier in the year by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for $2.3 million, making him the second-highest earning Englishman in the Indian Premier League behind allrounder Ben Stokes.

The addition of Mills follows the re-signing of George Bailey and Tim Paine, who last month announced they would again line up for the Hurricanes. More signings are expected in the coming weeks.

George Bailey (c), Tim Paine (v-c), Dan Christian, Hamish Kingston, Cameron Boyce, Clive Rose, Ben McDermott, Jake Reed, Beau Webster, James Bazley, Simon Milenko, Tymal Mills.