The forecast was for some showers in Dublin , especially in the morning, so when we got all of five minutes light rain around ten a.m. I hoped that was it for the day. Rathmines was in great nick for the semi final of the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup versus Limavady: the only thing missing was the away side, whose bus arrived about forty-five minutes before the start.

David Cooke won the toss and asked Leinster to bat, no doubt backing his side's ability to chase any score posted by the home team. Jason Molins and Mark Jones started well against Ricky McDaid and Chris Moore, each striking boundaries with their favourite shots: Jason the cover drive and Jonesey the pull, although each played the other's shot as well.

Then in the 12th over Jason flicked a half volley from Moore off his legs high and wide of square leg, where Simon Dunn leapt to his right to cling on to a fine one-handed catch. Molins made 20 out of 49. While Carlos Brathwaite pottered around, Jones kept the scoreboard lights changing. Andrew Riddles had replaced McDaid from the Rathmines end, and in his third over bowled a short one which Jones stepped back and tried to cut. There was a noise, Aggie stifled an appeal then started it again as David Cooke roared for a catch. Up went umpire Goldsmith's finger and off, somewhat reluctantly, went Jonesey for 42 out of 67.

It would appear that Mark had been lucky to survive an lbw shout earlier in his knock, so you could argue that justice was done. I've had a request from Rod Molins not to believe what players tell me. What, not even when it's your own elder son that tells me? Surely shome mishtake!

Chris Moore finished his ten overs from the Mount Pleasant end and was replaced by Simon Dunn's offies. In his second over, Brathwaite, who had spent three quarters of an hour scoring five, lofted him high and straight down Decker's throat at long on. Worse followed as, next over, Ian O'Herlihy ran himself out without scoring, and drinks were taken at 93-4.

Davie Cooke decided to call for a helmet about this stage. He has so little hair these days, and is so fair-skinned, that it was difficult to decide whether or not he was actually wearing his white lid. The equally pellucid Desmond Curry was now purveying his little lobbiers from the Rathmines end, and he and Dunn kept Anton Scholtz and Craig Mallon quiet.

The batsmen had chipped and nurdled and scampered their singles, but boundaries were a rarity. Scholtz, on 34, lost patience and his wicket with a swing and a miss in Decker's penultimate over, having just achieved the fifty partnership.

George Dockrell joined Mallon, and the two added twenty-five more runs before Tiggy Mallon, whose 30th birthday it was, with five overs to go, swung Riddles to Adam McDaid in the deep at mid wicket. He managed seven more runs than his age. Will Lennon succeeded in upping the tempo, he and Dockrell eventually finding the boundary. The latter holed out for 19 in McDaid's last over.

Andy McConnell (7*) helped Lennon (23*) take the score to 212-7 in 50 overs, at least fifty short of a challenging score. Only McDaid got any significant tap, while Decker, Dunn and Moore sent down their tens for 31, 32 and 33 runs respectively.

Limavady started their chase with the old soldiers, Decker and Ian McGregor, easing their way into the medium pace of Will Lennon and Robbie Kenealy. Decker creamed Lennon for a couple of fours through the covers, so Carlos Brathwaite took over at the Rathmines end. Carlos has done something to his back and can't bowl his preferred quickish medium pace.

Instead he bowled off-cutters at a slow medium pace. Going round the wicket to the left-hander, in his second over he drew Decker a long way forward, struck the pad, and danced an appeal. Umpire Goldsmith answered in the affirmative, and a puzzled Decker left for 17 out of 29. He told me he thought he'd been struck outside the line of off stump.

I couldn't possibly comment from where I was sitting. Oh, sorry, Rod, but this isn't a request column. Try Eamon Dunphy or George Hook on NewsTalk FM: they're so desperate for listeners, they'll do anything you ask.. A couple of overs later Cooke carved Brathwaite to Kenealy at backward point to make it 42-2.

Ricky McDaid joined McGregor, and the two quietly took the score to 88 in the 24th over, skipper Scholtz shuffling his bowlers around in a successful attempt to prevent familiarity breeding contempt. It was already spitting with rain in the 24th over when McDaid, on 14, miscued Scholtz to Dockrell.

As the rain got heavier, drinks became a rain break with the score on 89-3 off 25. Half an hour was lost, reducing the Limavady innings to 43 overs, with a recalculated D/L par score of 190, or 191 to win. There was a sheet of D/L par scores for everybody in the audience.

The visitors now lost the plot completely, only once, for one over, getting ahead of the D/L par score, when Mark McDaid hoisted McDonnell for six. Brathwaite returned to bowl out his overs as slowly as he possibly could as the sky filled in and the gloom deepened. In the 33rd over he got the bit of luck that turned the match.

Ian McGregor had reached 53 when the tall Bajan got one to lift sharply at the right-hander. The batsman skilfully played it directly down in front of him, but the ball hit his boot and ricocheted onto the stumps. 123-4 became 127-5 when Mark McDaid skipped down the wicket to Dockrell, yorked himself, and was bowled for 23.

Dean Curry emulated dad when he was lbw to Brathwaite with the score on 135 in the 35th over. The drizzle got heavier, but Chris Moore and Andy Riddles could only get as far as 143-6 when the umpires took the players off after 36 overs. Although the rain eased, it never stopped, and at 7:25 it was all over.

Leinster had won by eight runs, as the D/L par score for 36 overs and six wickets down was 151. Brathwaite's nine overs yielded 4/28, and if there were a Man-of-the-Match award he would surely have got it. The final will be on Friday the 4th September at The Hills C.C. against Donemana. Leinster will need every break going, having to play without Jason Molins (getting married in Spain ) and George Dockrell (away with Ireland U19).

There was only one Senior league match on Sunday, second-placed Clontarf at home to second-from-bottom North County . As in the previous week's cup final, Joe Morrissey won the toss for Clontarf and decided to bat. County were without pro François van der Merwe, ill in bed with what was feared to be swine flu.

Adrian D'Arcy and Bill Coghlan batted with great fluency against John Mooney and Conor Shiel, with plenty of beefy drives and not a few neat leg-side deflections. The bowling was changed to André Botha and Eddie Richardson, but four an over remained the rate until Boatsy found the outside edge of D'Arcy's bat, and he left for 30 out of 73 in the 18th over.

Rod Hokin mixed his normal caution with aggression, Coghlan passed 50 before drinks, and the pair were now confronted by Jonny Andrews's off-breaks and Thinus Fourie's seamers. The former 'Tarf player got one to stop on Coghlan, who lobbed a return catch and stomped off in high dudgeon for 67 out of 132.

Hokin was dropped shortly afterwards, but it didn't really cost as he was picked up for 38 very low down by Mooney at mid wicket off the seventh bowler, Terry Richardson. Terry then got Cusack caught behind third ball with a lifter, to be replaced by a very determined and aggressive Eoghan Delany.

With Andrew Poynter placing the ball expertly and running the plentiful singles, they added 65 in ten overs when Poynter was caught and bowled for 40 by the persevering Terry Richardson and then Delany caught off the same bowler for 43 off 41 balls, a super little knock. Unlike the previous weekend, the 'Tarf batsmen never really got away, and the innings closed on 247-8.

Terry Richardson took 4/47 off 8 overs, and brother Eddie picked up two late wickets to finish with 2/37 off nine. 248 was a tough ask, and became even tougher when Ciaran Garry was bowled by Cusack for 2 in his 3rd over. Conor Armstrong was caught for 13 by Hokin at slip next over, the ball deflecting off somebody's pad.

Morrissey and Cusack continued to bowl to Botha and Shields until the end of the 11th over, when the pair were on 21 and 6 out of a total of 53. The match was intriguingly balanced. Then a deputation including County skipper John Mooney went out onto the field and discussions ensued with the umpires and 'Tarf skipper Joe Morrissey.

Eventually everybody trooped off, the match abandoned because of fears about swine flu in the North County ranks and based on advice and/or instructions of some unspecified medical provenance. What exactly was this advice was never made clear to me. It was none of my business anyway: the two teams and the match officials had agreed on a course of action that they thought prudent.

What worries me is the general environment of self-induced panic in which it was possible to reach such a decision. Halting the match was not going to stop anybody catching swine flu. The virus is in the community and will spread. The virus is no more virulent or infectious than other varieties of flu currently doing the rounds.

People get flu all the time. Nearly all recover to full fitness within a week, but some suffer from complications which require medical intervention. Nearly all of these will recover. A very few will die, a miniscule proportion from the flu itself. That has been the case for centuries. As medical intervention has improved and as immunities have evolved, the death rate has dwindled to near zero. It will never reach zero.

The German social philosopher Ulrich Beck has developed a sophisticated analysis of what he calls the Risk Society, particularly the phenomenon whereby some things with very little and diminishing risk attract so much (unjustified) attention while other much riskier activities (e.g. road traffic) are tolerated and even encouraged. It's really interesting, and great food for thought, a proper basis for decision-making!