There was a juncture when Tymal Mills might have become another big-name departure from Sussex Sharks.

He does not give details but he is delighted it never happened – and determined to bring silverware to Hove as T20 captain.

The England paceman leads Sharks at Vitality Blast Finals Day tomorrow, with Gloucestershire their semi-final opponents (2.30pm) after Surrey have played champions Somerset (11am).

Sussex return to Edgbaston’s big day just when some might have felt they had slipped away from such occasions.

Their nine wins from 14 games in the South Group was followed by an eight-wicket hammering of Lancashire which put Hove back in the spotlight.

It is now six years since Sussex lost a Blast final against Worcestershire they appeared to have in their grasp.

Pat Brown, the man who put the brakes on them that day, was at Hove recently, taking 0-73 for a Derbyshire side who lost by an innings as Sussex maintained top spot in the Championship’s second division.

Mills is the only Sussex survivor from 2018 Finals Day after, to the dismay and sometimes anger of their fans, an array of star names moved on.

The county have rebuilt, combined youthful talent with experienced professionals and improved their preparation for the short format.

They have had separate coaches and almost completely different teams for T20, then gone back to more all-format players and one man – Paul Farbrace – in charge.

At one stage not too long ago, such was the difference in the line-ups, it felt like Sussex could play a Championship game and a T20 on the same day. But Mills, to his delight, has stuck with it, as one important constant in that time.

“There was one point a few years ago,” he told The Argus when asked whether he might have moved on at any stage in those lean years.

“We won’t get into the nitty-gritty. It wasn’t my doing, I didn’t want to leave.

“I wanted to play here for as long as I could.

“I have got no doubt I wouldn’t have achieved and done some of the things I have done in cricket if it wasn’t for the help and support I get back here. I love the club. This is my tenth year here now.

“I don’t just want to waste my last few years ticking over, then riding off into the sunset with nothing to show for it.”

Sussex have been back at Finals Day once since that defeat by Worcestershire, going down very timely to Kent in a 2021 semi which felt a bit like the end of an era.

Did Mills think they could get back to the top stage?

He said: “You always start each competition wanting to win and aiming to win.

“But we have been poor for the last few years.

“The club, rightly, have prioritised red-ball cricket.

“I think at one point we probably had six or seven T20-only players, which I understand isn’t a sustainable model for a club Sussex’s size.

“You can’t afford to be paying that many players to only play for six or seven weeks of the year.

“I was frustrated and I wanted to win. I always want to win.

“But it would mean that bit more to win for Sussex.

“The club have given me a lot over the years in terms of support for when I have been injured and stuff.

“As a captain, to hopefully give back a little bit means a lot to me. We will try and do that.”

Mills put himself forward for what is his first captaincy role after working closely with previous skipper Ravi Bopara.

The Blast is a short season – despite the ECB’s decision to drag it out into the early autumn – but preparation can be almost year-round.

Mills is delighted to see batters adding shots to their armoury and stresses the importance to him of maintaining his own form with the ball.

Farbrace highlights his skipper’s attention to detail.

The Sussex coach said: “He does a lot of research, a lot of homework.

“He does that for his own game, to know who ramps, who gives himself room, who looks to pull, who will go inside the line and score over third man.

“He shares that information and detail with our players.

“James Kirtley is another one, as our bowling coach, who has very much got an eye for detail.

“He and Grant Flower do a lot of the research on the opposition. I think we are as well-prepared as we can be.

“Luke Dunning, our analyst, and Millsy and James will spend an awful lot of time looking at the opposition.

“Simple things. If you know you’ve got a batter who ramps, it probably means you have to keep mid-off up and you will have to push fine-leg back.

“So he gives them the opportunity to go over mid-off, extra cover, as well as blocking fine-leg off.

“If you have somebody who doesn’t ramp, then it’s easier to bowl a much more off-stump line to him.

“They are the sort of things that, rather than being caught out by the time the bloke has played two ramps for six, Millsy knows that bloke is going to ramp before he walks to the crease.

“That level of detail makes him the bowler that he is but he has been able to use that as a captain and share that with all our players.

“That’s where he has taken our level of detail to the next level.”

International class – at a county who might have felt like poor relations compared to those with their Test and The Hundred arenas.

Mills said: “You show what you can do with whatever resources you have available.

“There are obviously counties who have much bigger budgets and whatever else than we do.

“But I am sure most people would agree we are one of the better non-Test match clubs in terms of the ground and the facilities and the atmosphere and everything we have got at the club.

“It’s a desirable place to live and play. Everyone enjoys coming in each day.”