Tymal Mills is relishing the all-embracing responsibility of captaining Sussex.

But the Sharks skipper knows when to draw the line as he aims to guide the team to the knockout stages of the T20 Vitality Blast.

That campaign resumes this evening as Kent visit Hove (7pm), with Sussex looking to respond to the heavy home defeat by Surrey.

Mills admitted that performance from his team fell below standards they have set while also keeping perspective over a start which has seen them win four from six.

The captain has an analytical role away from matchdays but it does not keep him awake at nights.

He told The Argus: “I’ve got two young kids so I’m knackered by the time ten o’clock in the evening comes.

“I am certainly thinking about cricket during the game and in the lead-up to the game.

“I am more on the analytic side, I guess.

“I like to go through the stuff with the analysts and have the information ready and be as prepared as I can be.

“But you can’t let cricket consume you.

“Games come thick and fast.

“I’ve learned that as a player, especially as a bowler.

“You have some terrible nights playing T20 cricket and, if you go to bed a night and let it eat away at you, you are not going to last long in the game.”

Mills had input last season with previous captain Ravi Bopara and head coach Paul Farbrace and relishes his current role.

He said: “I’m loving it. It has been great.

“I have known I was going to be captain since last October, November, so I have been preparing mentally since then.

“It was good to get those first few games under my belt.

“I have settled into it maybe a bit quicker than I thought.

“You come out of games and think, ‘Can I maybe have done something differently?’.

“So you have got to able to not second guess yourself, trust your gut feeling and those types of things.

“But working with Farbs and the coaching staff off the field and planning and talking and plotting how we are going to go about things, I am really enjoying it.

“I am really engaged in my cricket and I’m bowling well as well, which is nice.

“I want to continue doing it, hopefully, for the next few years.”

One frustration for Sussex would be that they failed to perform before a big home crowd after three outstanding performances on the road.

Home form has been a problem in the Blast in previous seasons – even when they had a relatively all-star line-up a few years ago.

Ahead of this campaign, they have worked hard at using the quirks of Hove to their advantage, most notably the slope, and will look to put things right this evening.

Mills is critical of the stop-start Blast schedule but at least the gap in games this time has given some time for rest, reflection and analysis.

He said: “The only thing I ask of the players is they review and they are honest with themselves.

“We have got all the footage available to us so have a look back at our performance, myself included.

“Did I get a few captaincy decisions correct or a few decisions I would maybe have done differently.

“We are still a relatively inexperienced team when it comes to T20 cricket.

“But we fell short of the standards we have set.”