Former Middlesex and England legend John Emburey has predicted another tight Ashes series this summer thanks to the return of some of Australia’s big match winning players.

The 66-year-old has recently taken on a new role as a guest host on the venue’s tours and experiences.

It’s a role he’s well suited to with a large part of playing which spanned over three decades, spent at the ‘home of cricket’.

The Peckham-born spinner started his career there in the early 1970’s as a young Middlesex player and went on to be part of the county’s most successful ever team winning 13 major titles during between 1976 and 1990.

His last home Ashes Test at Lords came 30 years ago this summer in a series that started a run of nine consecutive Australian victories broken famously in England in 2005.

The tourists have yet to record a series victory on English since then going down 3-2 on their last visit in 2015.

Emburey believes it could be as close again this summer with David Warner and Steve Smith returning for the Baggy Greens adding to what he feels is a strong bowling attack.

“The Australians are going to be a stronger side than their performance in India suggests with Smith and Warner coming back – there’s no doubt about that.

“They’ve also got a top quality spinner in Nathan Lyon. He is probably the best finger spinner in world cricket and he’s a handful.”

“It’s a good all round attack and the batting will be a lot stronger than it was in the winter so its going to be a tough series for England but I’d like to think they will come through.

“It’s going to be close but I think England might just shade the series, maybe 2-1”.

The Lords Ashes test starts on August 14 and is part of a huge summer of cricket at the venue with the World Cup.

Emburey, who also enjoyed a spell as Middlesex head coach, has seen his Lords career come full circle in his new role as a tour guide.

“Being part of the most successful ever Middlesex team in history was pretty exciting and a real highlight of my Lords career.

“But getting the opportunity to come back here and do the tours is fantastic.”

The Lords experiences include the Beyond a Boundary Tour, Players Dining Room Tour and The Hat Trick Tour with all of them hosted by a Middlesex and England legend.

To find out more and book a place visit lords.org/tours