As you?d expect for a man who took 309 wickets at less than two runs an over with his off-spin in an 18-year Test career, Lance Gibbs has a soft spot for those who follow his art.

And those he approves of include our very own Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock, a beneficiary of his knowledge in Antigua three years ago on a coaching course.

?This big fella walks in and I thought he must just be accompanying one of the guys actually doing the course,? laughed Gibbs, who became the second bowler in history to take 300 Test wickets and claimed more than 1,000 victims in total.

?But then he said he was here from Bermuda and was actually one of the spinners. And I?ll tell you what, by the end I could see he was one of the most accomplished on the course.

?He was dangerously accurate, always bowling to that same spot.?

Imparting knowledge seems to be Gibbs? speciality nowadays, although he also led the US bid to host matches in the 2007 World Cup.

And the 71-year-old, who was team manager to coach Gus Logie when Pakistan and Australia toured the West Indies in 1990 and 1991 and then took a tour including the current Bermuda coach to England later that year, was full of good advice for Logie?s team ahead of next July?s 20-20 tournament.

?You look around at the grounds here and some of them are not the biggest,? continued Gibbs, who has played here twice before, including a double-wicket tournament where he remembered playing against Cup Match star Rupert Scotland.

?I know the Bermuda players have a liking for smacking the ball out of the ground but they might have to think about that for our tournament and for the World Cup.

?Maybe they?ll want to think about hitting the ball along the ground a bit more. If you are going to go in the air you have to make sure you clear the boundary and the boundaries are going to be a bit bigger at the other grounds they will have to play at.?

And Gibbs, who once bowled an incredulous 53-over spell that included 37 maidens while taking eight for 38 against India in Barbados, also offered a cautionary note to Bermuda?s team, particularly now they are the recipients of both millions of dollars of public money and a World Cup place.

?The world is watching Bermuda cricket at the moment,? said Gibbs, who now resides in Miami but still has plenty to say on the subject of the recent West Indies slump.

?Qualifying for the World Cup brings with it great responsibilities and the players need to be aware of this. And it is not just the world?s eyes, it is the eyes of your youngsters.

?When I was kid, I used to go to the house of Robert Christiani and just sit on the wall and watch him walk around, that is how we treat our legends.

?And the Bermuda players are going to have to get used to being heroes and being hero-worshipped. If you succeed in cricket you can see the world for free, you can lunch with kings and queens and maharajas, it is a wonderful sport and there is going to be a generation looking up to your players and dreaming of what they can do in the game.

?My advice to the youngsters is simple. It is not about practise makes perfect, that is wrong. Perfect practise makes perfect and they should remember that.

?And they you should decide if they want to be a bowler or a batsman and stick to that, work hard at it, practise it and listen to their coaches.?

His final sage words were in relation to Bermudians? passion for cricket, which he claims is legendary throughout the Caribbean.

?I have known Bermudians for a long time and been around them in cricket and it is obvious they have a love and a passion for the game,? continued the player who last played a Test in February 1976 against the Australians at Melbourne.

?That is how they qualified for the World Cup and that is why they will continue to do well.

?I remember going to a certain hotel in Barbados before the Test matches and going in there to see the manager and he would tell me there was no room at the inn ? ?the place is full of Bermudians?!?