An example of content inception can be found in the debut video of Tymal Mills' YouTube channel.
Having gone live on Wednesday, the first offering is a behind-the-scenes look at the Vitality Blast content day. Footage of this very interview with Mills is contained within the nine-and-a-half minutes, filmed by his editor and videographer, Ellie, who works for FIXTURE, an athletic marketing agency aiming to help Mills to grow his online profile.
It was last summer that Mills became the first cricketer to partner with OnlyFans. His offerings were by no means explicit, but the nature of the platform meant the ECB stepped in to prevent him donning the logo on his bat. Mills understood, and though the deal with OnlyFans has now expired, the sums involved have allowed him to reinvest in further enhancing his digital presence.
"Doing social media is tough," Mills tells ESPNcricinfo. "If you do it yourself, you're going be editing, filming, getting the right shot, the B-roll and everything… I haven't got time to do that.
"I'm playing cricket, I've got family and stuff. Sure, I might be able to get it done for a week, but then you'll rack it off. But it's been good."
Mills is a cricketer first, of course. Without that, he'd have little to offer followers (over 118,000 of them on Instagram, and over 20,000 on TikTok). As Sussex's T20 captain, the irl (in real life) stuff begins on Friday away to Mills' former county, Essex. The bruised heel that blighted his 2025 summer has been overcome; a full enough recovery meant a return to sending down the usual 90mph left-arm rockets in the SA20 after joining Pretoria Capitals as an injury replacement for Craig Overton.
There has been technical work too: "a couple of tiny things" such as ensuring his bowling arm is a little higher above his head at his jump-gather. That prolongs the delay of his left arm, which contributes to greater snap through the crease upon landing. These are the kind of details, along with strength and conditioning programs for budding fast bowlers, that you get across his various social channels.
His TikToks are particularly noteworthy, particularly since Mills began hosting intermittent Q&As with followers. Each video sees Mills address a specific subject put forward in the comments of the previous explainer, creating a daisy chain effect allowing viewers to go through the back catalogue of content.
"I've done TV and radio work and I enjoy it. I'll only be a player for so long and whatever I do next after cricket, I want to be successful no matter what it is. This is just an extension of that and hopefully can lead to other things"
It was an idea Mills picked up from Matt Richardson. A comedian and former host of The Xtra Factor (the offshoot of talent show The X Factor), Richardson's following has skyrocketed as a result, leading to an uptick in ticket sales for his live shows.
"I messaged him as he kept coming up on my feed," Mills says. "He's just sat there doing Q&As about the comedy industry. I asked how he went about doing it, how much he's posting a day. He was really cool and shared some insights.
"There's no great production to it; he's literally just sat on his phone, answering people's questions. He's blown up. Nobody had done this in cricket, so I thought I'd ask if people want to ask me anything and talk.
"Pretty much exclusively, everybody wants to talk about money. The interactions when I'm talking about money, tax and stuff, outperform anything cricket wise. You have to be careful; I'll speak about my experiences and never anyone else's."
At present, his best performing videos are about kits, with one on memorabilia collected across his umpteen franchise gigs and 16 T20I caps (including his winner's medal as part of the 2022 World Cup squad) currently on over half-a-million views. Run-throughs of his gym workouts also do well.
As Mills says, most of the requests are to lift the lid on money and franchise cricket. A week after he was picked up by London Spirit for £130,000 in the Hundred auction, Mills spoke openly about the stress of the auction process, along with his annoyance at not being bracketed in the top 50 players.
While his content provides fascinating nuggets for punters (and journalists), there is a clear audience for players. Particularly those making their first moves into the game and not across the minor details that cause major issues.
"There might be some cricketers that have seen videos of mine and not actually known about certain things I'm talking about. For instance, I know for a fact there are so many that get paid foreign income into their English bank and their bank gives them a terrible exchange rate.
"That happens so much more than you expect: high-profile players getting large sums of money and paying a big chunk of it to HSBC or someone. I put a video out about that and it performed really well because people don't know about those things. I mean, I didn't know about those things until I met my wife, who works in that industry."
Mills is not the only English cricketer making more of social media. England Women's allrounder Dani Gibson is a regular poster, likewise legspinner Sarah Glenn.
The ECB is keen for more of their cricketers to follow Mills' lead and be more active with their output, not least because it can help them get better brand deals and, in turn, grow the sport. The effort put in across the English game is measly compared to footballers and the NBA, for instance, though individuals thriving in those spaces have greater income to employ their own dedicated content teams.
Nevertheless, there are high-profile endorsements that could be courted by those with great standing. As one ECB source put it when referring to a brand that used to sponsor Joe Root: "What is the best batter we've ever produced doing with 'VILLAGE' on his bat?!"
The likes of Root (1.4 million Instagram followers), Ben Stokes (3.1 million) and Lauren Bell (2.2 million) don't need to be all that creative as prominent cricketers on a global scale. Mills accepts he needs to put in the effort to standout.
"For those at the top of the game, England regulars, IPL or WPL, they don't have to work too hard at it. You can post the generic stuff. People are going to follow you anyway and it's all fine.
"For most of my career, I have been at the level underneath that - never an England or IPL regular, but dabbled in both. I've done TV and radio work and I enjoy it, so it's about marrying that and giving it a good go.
"But I enjoy it and will keep doing it. I'll only be a player for so long and whatever I do next after cricket, I want to be successful no matter what it is. This is just an extension of that and hopefully can lead to other things."
Mills reiterates his primary job is to do right by Sussex, and that has never been more relevant after the ECB placed the county under special measures for "sustained operating losses". Part of the penalty includes starting in the Vitality Blast South Group on -1 points. Tighter finances mean Australian batter Daniel Hughes will be the sole overseas player.
Amid fears of mass departures, and with Paul Farbrace stepping down as head coach at the end of the season, defiance has come on the field in the County Championship, winning three of six matches so far.
Without the 12-point deduction imposed upon them, they would be level on 91 with Division One leaders and defending champions Nottinghamshire. Mills wants to channel that energy from the red-ball team into the white- and, who knows, a first Blast win since 2009.
"We're not on rations at lunchtime, we're not sharing balls. We're in a good place cricket wise. The boys are sitting fifth [out of 10] in the Championship despite starting at a deficit. The Blast, we'll be starting at a deficit, too, so we'll hope to follow suit and get some early wins to wipe that.
"Farby has been open that things will change at the end of the year. Success on the field will subsequently help off the field, if bar takings are great and the weather's great and the club events go well."
Ahead of what will be Mills' 12th season at Sussex (his current deal runs until the end of the 2027 summer) he is frank about what he owes them, even with the 156 T20 wickets taken.
"In my opinion, the club have given me more than I've given them," he says. "I've got a place to train 12 months of the year. I've got access to physios, strength and conditioning, gym, the indoor school. If it's chucking it down and I need to get my kids out of the house, I can let them run around in the indoor school while I work.
"That was part of the want to take on the captaincy a couple of years ago - to try and give back. If we're being honest, unless something changes, this season might be our best chance to do something because chances are the playing staff will be worse off next year. I'd love to win for Sussex."