St John’s: Fast bowling great Curtly Ambrose says that spinners will have a key role to play in the upcoming Test series between India and the West Indies as Caribbean conditions no longer favour the quick bowlers.

“The pitches in the Caribbean no longer find faster men licking their lips in anticipation. Instead, I expect spinners to play a big role in the forthcoming Test series,” says the bowler who himself was a menace for batsmen around the world before hanging up his boots after claiming 405 wickets in 98 Tests at an average of 20.99.

Ambrose, described by former Australian captain Steve Waugh as the “meanest and most perfect fast bowling machine of his time,” looks at the West Indies team and puts finger on a few areas of concern.

“Somebody like Fidel Edwards is not bad. He has the potential. But he doesn’t have anyone senior helping him through. He has to find his way through trial and error. I was lucky in this regard that I had the likes of Courtney Walsh and Malcolm Marshall sharing their experience with me,” the Antiguan said.

Ambrose, who was known for his stifling accuracy, in particular, chose one of the many nuggets which peerless Marshall passed on to him while he was coming along.

“I remember an advice in particular from Marshall. He told me, ‘Maan, watch your figures. If you take care of your figures, you would be all right.’

“It was a significant message. I realised the more you could dry up the runs, the better chances you stood in getting a batsman out,” Ambrose said. But one name slips through his closed chambers and it happens to be Sachin Tendulkar. “He was only 17-and-a-half when I watched his hundred in England in 1990 in the Manchester Test. I then said to myself, ‘only 17, hmmm’”, the great bowler said.

He has little hesitation in describing Tendulkar as one of the greatest batsman to have ever graced the game. “He is not over, maan. He is just 33. He would recover from his injuries. He is still one of your best guys. You would surely miss him in the Test series.”

No wonder Ambrose is arguably the least interviewed of all cricketing legends. The world hasn’t heard his side of the story when he stood towering over Steve Waugh at the striker’s end in the 1995 home series, like a volcano about to erupt, when his captain Richie Richardson yanked him away.