A week to remember at Malahide in 2018 as Ireland played Pakistan in their first Test match. Ireland lost by five wickets but the historic encounter is the favourite match of Ian Callender.

Ian has been following the fortunes of the Irish for almost 40 years, working for amongst others Sunday News, Sunday Life, News Letter, AFP, Times, and the Belfast Telegraph. He found his niche in his remarkable live scoring and commentary of matches for CricketEurope. He is a regular contributor to Wisden too. He has currently seen 587 of the 999 competitive games played by Ireland.

When I started reporting on Ireland matches in 1981, there were only eight Test nations and the prospect of Ireland becoming one was not even in dreamland.

That season they were looking forward to games against Wales and the MCC, the annual game against Scotland and the win toss-bowl first games against the counties. It was amateurs against professionals.

Just 12 years later, however, Ireland became an Associate Member of the ICC and the following year took part in their first World Cup qualifying tournament in Kenya. After three unsuccessful attempts to qualify, home advantage saw Ireland reach the 2007 World Cup finals and, suddenly Ireland, were on the world stage.

Five years later, Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom announced his 2020 vision of getting Test Match status and ICC Full Membership. It took only five years for Ireland and Afghanistan to be admitted as the 11th and 12th Test nations and on Friday May 11, 2018, Ireland's 943rd match - and my 541st - was a Test match against Pakistan at Malahide.

It wasn't the first Test match I reported on - I covered the first day of England's Test match against Australia in January 2014, remotely, for the Belfast Telegraph when a certain Boyd Rankin made his Test debut in Sydney. But this was live and now Rankin was playing his second Test match alongside 10 debutants.

Being Ireland, everyone had to wait 24 hours for the first ball with rain washing out Friday's action but many of the spectators returned to see Tim Murtagh bowl the historic first delivery - which almost resulted in a run-out! Seven overs later, though, Ireland could celebrate their first Test wicket - Azhar Ali c Porterfield (at second slip) b Rankin 4 - and what many people don't remember is that next ball Pakistan were 13-2 with Iman ul-Haq trapped lbw by Tim Murtagh.

Half centuries for Asad Shafiq, Shadab Khan and, frustratingly, Faheem Ashraf, top scorer from No 8, ensured Pakistan batted to within seven overs of lunch on the third day. Nerves got the better of most of the Ireland batsmen in their first Test innings - just four reached double figures - and with a first innings lead of 180, Pakistan enforced the follow-on with 26 overs still left in the day.

This time, though, Ed Joyce, in what was to be his 151st and final match for Ireland, and William Porterfield not only batted to stumps but put on 69 for the first wicket, doubling Ireland's best partnership in the first innings.

Day 4 will always be remembered for and by Kevin O'Brien, as he scored Ireland's first Test match century (186 balls, 295 mins with 10 fours). He finished the day 118 not out with Ireland now 139 in front and three wickets left. Already we were dreaming of the unthinkable!

Kevin failed to survive his first ball on the final morning, caught at slip, but with Rankin and Murtagh each hitting a boundary, Ireland added 20 to leave Pakistan 160 to win. When Pakistan crashed to 14-3 inside five overs, the dream of a debut Test win was alive again but a century partnership between Imam and Babar Azam restored order.

A run-out and Stuart Thompson's fourth wicket of the match reduced the margin to five wickets but, just before tea, Imam turned Tyrone Kane through square leg for the winning runs.

Ireland's Test match action may have ground to a halt after just three games - they are not scheduled to play any in 2020 - but the players, spectators, officials and media will always have Malahide 2018.

A match which was never on the radar for the first 31 years of this reporter's career, but proving that, if you are around long enough, the impossible really can happen. Now to see Ireland's first Test win!