Morgan ready to roll dice on Mills

Eoin Morgan, England's limited-overs captain, has described Tymal Mills as a "really exciting" addition to the T20 squad ahead of a possible international debut against Sri Lanka next month. Sussex left-armer Mills is capable of bowling above 90mph and his selection is another step towards England developing a pool of players who can consistently mount a challenge for global white-ball trophies.

Mills' pace has made him a player of interest to England for some time but a back problem diagnosed last year effectively forced his retirement from first-class cricket at the age of 22. He has since been focused on becoming a T20 specialist, with a tailored training programme developed in conjunction with the ECB.

Morgan suggested Mills could provide England with a cutting edge similar to Mitchell Starc for Australia and welcomed his introduction to the set-up. England were beaten finalists at this year's World T20, with the tournament next scheduled for 2020 - although a 2018 edition may still materialise - but it is possible that Mills could eventually have a role to play in 50-over cricket as well.

"It's really exciting," Morgan said. "We have a left-arm option who is quite steady but to have a genuine quick... I don't think we've somebody who bowls as quick as Tymal in quite a long time. I think he's been bowling at 93, 94mph. I think Steven Finn bowled that three or four years ago but has not managed it since. It's not something that comes easy. Certainly if we can ease Tymal into the squad when it comes to a big match I see no problems going to him. I think now is the time to get him involved."

Mills has taken 25 T20 wickets at 18.32, with an economy of 7.94, since joining Sussex ahead of the 2015 season, leading to his involvement with the England Lions against Pakistan A in the UAE over the winter. He has only played two List A games in the last year, since the discovery of the spinal condition that causes shooting pain in his legs, and has a career average of 35.77 from 23 matches.

Morgan concedes that Mills is restricted to T20 at the moment. "At the moment, yes," Morgan said. "He's building up towards 50 overs if possible, but I think that's a long way away at the moment. He's come a long way since last year. He thought his career might be over. It's really exciting to see him back. With the balance of the side we have, if Ben Stokes is fit, we can have the luxury of gambling with somebody like that."

England have enjoyed a renaissance in limited-overs cricket over the last 12 months under Morgan, particularly in their style of play, which culminated in an exhilarating run to the World T20 final in India.

Results have been less consistent in ODI cricket, however. England have won 10 and lost nine ODIs since the start of last summer, with series victories over New Zealand and Pakistan counterbalanced by defeats to Australia and South Africa, and Morgan believes it is "still the beginning" in terms of challenging at next year's Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup.

"We're still a long way away," he said. "I think we have the attributes to be the team we want - we're moving in the right direction, particularly in our bowling department. We have a legspin option who turns it both ways, a left-arm seam option, we have quicks and then somebody who is quite steady. The all-round balance of a bowling attack is important leading into any major competition. Having not just one line-up but a back-up is important.

"It's always good to look back and realise we have made some good progress but also think whether we are still going in the right direction. Who is our next left-arm seamer if somebody goes down, who is our next legspinner if somebody goes down? Things are going well at the moment but it is still the beginning."

Morgan also held out hope for Stuart Broad - who has spoken openly of his desire to return to the one-day side - and James Anderson, suggesting the formats had become more squad driven, and that England wanted to have greater strength in depth rather than attempting to settle on an ideal XI to play all of the time.

"I actually think somewhere between 15 and 17 players [is what we need]. It's a squad game. One of the lessons from the World Cup last year was that going into the event our standout bowlers weren't in form, coming back from injury. That put quite a bit of pressure on Jimmy and Broady. It was probably wrong of us to do so. That's one lesson.

"It creates a lot of healthy competition for places. We've had some fantastic performances over the last 12 months but 12 months doesn't necessarily earn you the right to win a 50-over World Cup. It's a bit of a longer race than that.

"We'd still like to keep Stuart, Jimmy, etc in our minds. Like I say, probably a squad of about 17 players who are in and around the side. We would like guys to stand up and say, 'This spot is mine.' But we've jigged around during the last 12 months trying to find the best balance."