In 1986-87, when England last won the Ashes, John Emburey and Phil Edmonds took 33 wickets between them in the series.

Together the "Spin Twins" were one of the tourists' most potent weapons and played a huge role in that winter triumph.

But that was 12 years ago and, with all due respect to today's incumbents of the spinners' berth - Robert Croft and Peter Such - not too many people are expecting to see a repeat this time around.

Emburey: England's last great off-spinner

Spin will still play an integral part in the 1998-99 match-up.

But, sadly for England, most experts are predicting Australia's talismatic star Shane Warne to be the slow bowling success of the series.

John Emburey, though, refuses to take a pessimistic view of England's chances in the up-coming spin duel.

Emburey, who took 147 wickets in an illustrious Test career spanning 17 years, is still one of the leading analysts of the arcane art of spin bowling.

Now Northamptonshire coach, he is as well qualified as anyone else to give his verdict on the state of the discipline in Australia and England.

Embers puts faith in new pairing

Emburey concedes that slow bowling is unlikely to play as significant a part in England's approach as it did it 1986-87.

"Our spinners aren't going to take 33 wickets," he told BBC News Online.

"But that's because we aren't going to play two spinners in the same team. We don't have the combination of a left armer and a right armer that we had in the '80s - if we did have that kind of variety I'm sure they would both be playing.

Warne remains Australia's most destructive weapon

"Instead the main job for the spinners will be backing up the seam attack."

But while England will not build their team around Croft and Such, who are both similar right-arm off-spinners, they could still prove a force to be reckoned with.

And Emburey believes it could actually prove to be a seam bowler who raises the spinning stakes.

"Alan Mullally had a very good summer with the ball and I think he could get in the side," Emburey mused.

"If he plays he can bring an off-spinner into the game. Because Mullally is a left-armer he gets in a certain area of the wicket, which means the finger spinners can make use of his footmarks.

"As long as they bowl a slightly wider line than they are used to they should cause some damage."

Croft carves out all-round spot

Of the slow bowling duo, Glamorgan's Croft is more likely to make the Test side than Essex bowler Such, who was a surprise inclusion in the squad.

"Croft is the better all-round cricketer," said Emburey. "Graham Gooch has worked on his batting and he is now a useful middle-order player, who is capable of getting 70s and 80s.

"He's now an established member of the team and if he bowls with control and varies his flight he can be a potential match-winner.

"Such is a good bowler on wickets that turn. But he hasn't got a great variety on flatter wickets and he sometimes loses confidence if batsmen get on top of him."

However, Emburey believes England may pay for leaving behind their best left-arm spinner - his own former Middlesex team-mate Phil Tufnell.

Such a shock: Essex spinner earned a surprise call-up

"Tufnell was unlucky," he said. "The selectors decided they wanted two off-spinners, but it would have been nice to have that extra variety.

"He showed against Australia at the Oval last year that he can bowl well to right-handers on wickets that give movement.

"In the West Indies last winter Tufnell bowled negatively to the left-handers and allowed them to kick him away. That's why he isn't going to Australia - but I think they're likely to miss him."

Unlike Australia, England lack a quality wrist spinner who can turn the ball in any conditions.

"Our finger spinners won't turn it as much as Warne," Emburey admitted, "so they'll have to use the breeze and the conditions and exhibit tight control."

No worries over Warne

Warne, of course, is the key figure in the spin duel - but question marks remain over his ability to recover from serious shoulder surgery in time to take on the England batsmen.

"I think Warne will play in the series, but it's likely to be be nearer Christmas," Emburey said. "I don't think he'll be fit for the first couple of Tests."

MacGill's wickets helped secure victory in Pakistan

But even when Warne does return to the Test scene, Emburey is not convinced that the wily leg-spinner will have the explosive impact on England that he has had in recent series.

"David Lloyd and his coaching staff have put in a lot of work on how to play Warne," he said.

"It's all a matter of disciplining the batsmen and we're now much better prepared than in the past.

"We've got a very strong line-up and most of our batsmen - Mike Atherton, Nasser Hussain, John Crawley and Mark Ramprakash - play spin very well.

"And Graham Thorpe is an excellent player of spin - he's likely to be the lynchpin, because he's a left-hander and can break up the bowler's rhythm.

"The batsmen will know that Warne's a danger - but this time we won't be frightened of him."

However, England would be wrong to assume that Warne is the limit of their slow bowling concerns.

Feeling the heat: Robertson broke into the Test arena this year

In the enforced absence of the most successful spinner in Test history, Australia have brought on two promising deputies.

Leg-break bowler Stuart MacGill and 22-year-old off-spinner Gavin Robertson have both earned the plaudits on Australia's victorious tour of Pakistan - but Emburey is not unduly concerned:

"MacGill looks okay. But he is still learning and he doesn't have the control of Warne, so he won't pose as many problems and won't worry our batsmen.

"Robertson is a tallish off-spinner, who gets the ball to turn but still struggles for control.

"He will cause problems for the outside edge of the bat, not the inside - but our batsmen should be able to counter his threat by playing straighter than they normally would."

So, as long as England's batsmen get their heads down and concentrate and Croft and Such bowl the tightest of lines, Emburey believes all is not lost for the tourists.