“Hendo laid the track and I drove the train along it.” - Adi Birrell.

When Mike Hendrick took up the post of National Coach in March 1995 he became the first, and for quite a few years, the only salaried employee of the Irish Cricket Union.

To say he was the outstanding applicant for the job would not do him justice, and indeed he was the only candidate ‘interviewed’.

‘Interviewed' is a bit of a misnomer for what went on however, as for the first ten minutes he listened rather than spoke!

Eventually he was asked a question - the Honorary Secretary Derek Scott asking his opinion on something close to his own heart - the trend amongst bowlers of the day to wear lightweight ‘runners' rather than ‘traditional bowling boots’!

Hendo’s answer obviously met with Derek’s approval because his appointment was quickly confirmed.

‘Big Dave’ made his appearance following a Nat West match at Edgbaston in 1998 when the squad was outside the ground waiting for their hotel transport to arrive.

Along comes a local fan who points at Mike and says, “I know you, you’re, you’re, you're Big Dave Hendrick!”

“That’s right,” says Hendo, and to some he has been Big Dave ever since.

The pic I’ve chosen was taken the afternoon before the first Ireland / England match at Stormont in 2006.

Technically deficient it was snatched without a flashgun in a darkish room with strong lighting in the background, grainy and less than sharp it nevertheless catches a moment I want to remember.

Big Dave was back in town to work with his old chum Jonathan Agnew on the BBC commentary and we were all sitting in front of the big fire in the foyer of the Stormont Hotel.

Old friends were there, Roy Torrens, Robin Walsh, Cecil Walker, Alfie Linehan talking of past times, and I wondered just what thoughts were in Big Dave's head as he reached for that first pint.