It is always good to meet up with old cricketing friends and although Barbados is a small island, it is just like anywhere else in that you can go a long time without seeing someone. Then when you meet it's almost as if you have never been away!
Hooking up with big Hendy Wallace last Friday evening at a Polo cocktail party might seem an unusual rendezvous, but after few Banks Beers all the talk was about cricket, and it is amazing how much this guy is in the know these days!
From Lara's stipend in India to who's going where in 2008, the big man is the fastest source of breaking cricket news on the island, and he's pretty clued up on what's happening back inIrelandas well. These days Hendy doubles up his manager's role at a local hotel with commentating on the major cricket matches and he's already won a healthy reputation in the region as one of the best in the business. Articulate and knowledgeable with that big infectious laugh, he has lost none of his enthusiasm for the game, and although the girth has widened a little, he's still in great shape. He has also proved to be an excellent local organizer for club cricket tours to Barbados.
North-West cricket felt the full brunt of Henderson Wallace's fire-power in the early Eighties when he joined Eglinton as player/coach and almost immediately began resurrecting this fine old club. An excellent coach, he not only became the biggest draw for North-West cricket fans, he was one of the game's finest ambassadors on and off the field. A fearsome pace bowler off a short run up, he was also a prodigious hitter and thrived on the small North-West grounds. In an era when overseas professionals were loathed by the clubs that didn't have them, his battles with the great Donemana teams were legendary. But he had great respect for his adversaries and over the course of time he earned their respect as well.
He brought Eglinton back to the forefront of local cricket and he gave North-West cricket a huge buzz for many years. His name was often linked with several NCU clubs but when he eventually moved it was to the Leinster Cricket Club. Hendy had his fair share of playing successes in Dublin, but time eventually caught up with this genial big West Indian and he slipped quietly into a coaching role for several seasons before he finally called a halt to his Irish summers.
Nearly every North-West cricketer has their favourite story about Hendy Wallace and the big man has his fair share of them as well. He still talks with great affection and pride about the many characters he met, and there's no doubt his name figures highly as one of the greatest personalities to grace the North-West game.
Watch out for Hendy making a bigger impact in the media with Australia in the Caribbean this year and England next year. He's maybe just a little short on West Indies cricket media doyen Tony Cozier, but he's making up the ground fast, and he seems the natural successor when Tony starts to ease into semi-retirement.
Henderson Wallace, cricket personality extraordinaire, and a legend in North-West cricket.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
