'Tymal Mills is express pace so that will be a challenge for Sri Lanka'
Tuesday 5 July 2016 18:27, UK
David Willey previews England's T20 international with Sri Lanka, assesses the new arrivals in the squad – Tymal Mills and Dawid Malan – and talks Mohammad Amir...
Tymal Mills and Dawid Malan are new additions to the squad for Tuesday's T20 against Sri Lanka.
They've fitted in perfectly in practice. Most of the guys have worked together before, whether that be with the Lions or at England training camps, so they're not completely new to the group.
Just like we've seen so far in the T20 Blast, Tymal is express pace. Plus he has got a very good slower ball out of the back of the hand. To be such a threat in such different ways will make it very challenging for the Sri Lankans.
From what I know of Dawid, he's a proper cricketer, plays proper cricket shots and is in great touch this year, so he should slide in nicely.
It is their first time in an England squad and from my experience, it will be mixed emotions, with a lot of excitement but a few nerves as well.
We're in action at The Ageas Bowl, where I played my first full match for England against New Zealand last year after my debut against Ireland was rained off.
It's a great ground, great atmosphere, and it's usually quite a flat pitch so no doubt there will be plenty of runs scored. It should be a cracking contest for the fans.
We have such strength in the batting with Sam Billings and Liam Dawson also coming back into the squad, plus James Vince was brilliant hitting his first fifty in the final ODI in Cardiff.
It's a shame he couldn't go on and get a bigger score but it was such a mature knock and I was very happy for him. This is another opportunity for him.
It's a great England dressing room to be in at the minute. We have huge belief in each other and as a team that we can excel in all three aspects of the game.
Picking up from the World T20, we've got the same belief now that served us so well in the run to the final. We had a very good side and we felt we could go along way. It was just the media, with us being a relatively new side, who didn't think that.
It was obviously a dream to go to a world tournament, although I'm still reminded every now and then that in the opening game I'd forgotten to mark my run-up out, so I had to quickly get the tape measure run out to me. It was a bit of a shambles!
But overall it was a great experience and we played some great cricket throughout the tournament. As long as we're on our A-game and performing to our potential again on Tuesday, then we should come out on top.
It's our final game against Sri Lanka, with Pakistan our next opponents. The lead up to the Test series has been dominated by the return of Mohammad Amir to England after his ban for spot-fixing in 2010.
He was a young guy at the time and everyone makes mistakes, although obviously his was quite a serious one.
He was a very talented cricketer before all of the controversy and no doubt he'll do very well during the Test series and will be a threat throughout.
Watch David Willey in action in the T20 international between England and Sri Lanka at The Ageas Bowl from 6pm on Sky Sports 2 on Tuesday.
