IN HIS book The Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers, Christopher Martin Jenkins tells of how Mike. Hendrick, who had adopted a punishing fitness programme, snapped a hamstring in his first over during the third Test against Australia on England's 1974/75 tour Down Under.

"The rest of the tour was a miserable anti climax for him (continues Martin Jenkins) but when, after some fine performances for England against Australia in 1977, his chance came again overseas, he took it with the eagerness of a man presented with a feast after a long and weary journey without food."

Hendrick is now in his third term as Ireland's national coach and that steely dedication which Martin Jenkins outlines so graphically has rubbed off on his squad of weekend club cricketers. Last year, Ireland won both the Triple Crown and the European Championship and now go to the ICC Trophy tournament at Kuala Lumpur with hopes high of a top three placing which would provide qualification for the 1999 World Cup in England.

"Of course qualifying in Malaysia is a possibility!", declares Hendrick. "We were seventh in the equivalent tournament in Kenya in 1994, so it could be argued that anything better than seventh will show that we are moving in the right direction; the profile of Irish cricket has been raised to unprecedented heights because of last year's successes, and because Ireland has been identified by the ICC as one of seven countries which could benefit from special help."

It is tempting to compare Hendricks and his squad of amateurs with his compatriot Brian Ashton and his squad of alleged rugby professionals. What does; the former Test bowler think?

"I would definitely like to be able to have the boys together more frequently, but that isn't the case," says Hendrick. "But what I have to say is that they've taken on board everything that I've asked and I tend to treat them like professional cricketers. And by and large they've reacted better than some so called professional cricketers that it has been my misfortune to be involved with over the years.

"I certainly recognise the huge changes which have come about in the attitude of the players towards getting together and practising Ireland are now European champions and we're going to Malaysia with a very good chance of getting to England in 1999." Eat your heart out, Brian Ashton.

The squad has been worked hard, after a four week break last September. Then, each member was given a personal fitness programme, and in October, November and December the entire emphasis was on physical training.

After Christmas, each member was required to train every day and then the squad, and the reserve panellists, came together every weekend for a mixture of training and cricket practice, at Queen's University in Belfast and at Wesley College in Dublin. All the players have been fitness assessed on a regular basis.

Hendrick also praises the changing perceptions on the administrative side: "I'd like to think that there is more of a feel towards the national side, a greater determination to produce international cricketers than perhaps existed in the past. The development plan contains a lot of good ideas. Regardless of whether we qualify for the 1999 World Cup or not, these things have still got to be driven on," he says.

Hendrick says that there is a perceived difference in Ireland between Northern and Southern cricket. "The view up here is that cricket in the North is played harder in the north west it's particularly hard and they get stuck in. I'll tell you what has been said to me - that in the North cricket is a working man's game, while in the South it still has middle class connotations.

"No, it isn't easy to change all over, but changes have already been made. Certainly, there are many people in the South who want to get cricket standardised, if you like, so that we can produce - better players within a one day context.

"I have noticed that some people in the South think that one day cricket isn't proper cricket. It is proper cricket, it just requires different disciplines and different demands; and we are not in the business of producing Test cricketers.

"We're in the business of producing a national side that is very, very good and proficient at one day cricket. Now, logic dictates that the players should be educated in the ways of one day cricket from club level on - that's the reason why I was brought over to Ireland in the first place," says Hendrick.

Hendrick played cricket in Dublin with a touring team: "That was many moons ago - the old memory gets clouded and it was cloudy fairly soon after I arrived, as well!" But with such teams, he says, cricket is a secondary consideration.

"Well, that got to change and people have got to be made to take Irish cricket seriously; if some team comes and plays an interpro side they've got to know they're going to be in for hard cricket.

"If we can attract quality sides, and not just piss artists, over here, our players are going to get more experience and more exposure to better cricketers. That way, our lads can only get better," Hendrick insists.

"Things are changing for the better. It just needs people to keep working away and believing in what is happening," says Hendrick, who adds that the renewal of his contract after it expires next August "is a matter between myself and the ICU".

"Like I said, cricket in Ireland is progressing, somebody has got to be around to drive it, and I'd like to be part of it." Hendrick and the squad arrived in Kuala Lumpur at the weekend with the exciting chance of a place in the World Cup two years from now.