I made it back from France to Rathmines on Friday evening as Instonians were about 40 for about one off about 7 overs (the electric scoreboard was jammed), and FP was having the odd waft while FU was strokeless against some indifferent bowling from Will Lennon and Keeley Todd.

I discovered there had been little fun and no game earlier on, as Instonians had got lost in the Port Tunnel (and probably found that the king's shilling wouldn't work in the free state meter). An hour after the scheduled start time Leinster had commenced batting against a bowler, a keeper and three fielders.

While the umpires were working out how to police two stationary catchers among the seven inside the circle, a few more scouts made it over the East Link, and Todd managed to get himself out for a duck, making it 3/1.

Mark Jones (27) and Anton Scholtz (21) took the score past fifty, but both were out and JP O'Dwyer too for a score of 65/4. Things didn't get much better for the home team as they lost Craig Mallon (16), Ian O'Herlihy (20), and Hugh McDonnell (0) to leave Instonians worrying about the rush hour traffic home.

However, Rob Miley (43) and Will Lennon (44) took the score from 129/7 to 216/8, Gavin Gilmore added a quick 16, and Leinster were all out for 236 with 23 balls of the 50 overs unused. Top scorer for Leinster was Ernie Extras with 45, 25 coming from Willie Wides.

For Instonians, Hamilton took 2/73 off 10, Molein 3/30 off 10, Elliot and Kabir each 1/43 off 10, and Shannon 2/6 off 2.1. I don't have any given names, nicknames or pet names for these guys, although I sat for an hour and a half in the bar afterwards waiting to see somebody to ask.

Hence my coded initials in the first paragraph: FP was Kabir, who continued to go the aerial route, and having survived a double chance to O'Herlihy and Jones, swept Gilmore a couple of balls later to deep backward square, where Lennon took an excellent low catch. Kabir 43, and Instonians 73/2.

Molein came in and immediately impressed, while FU (Shannon) rode his luck as he avoided the fielders (or was it expert placement, and I'm just being unfair?). The Leinster bowling continued to be well below Senior standard, apart from that of Dockrell (after his customary loose first over).

Molein and Shannon were both wearing yellow pads, whereas Kabir had been sporting white ones. I just assumed that he couldn't afford a can of yellow spray paint, but someone pointed out he was the pro, and didn't have to put his hand in his pocket for such things. It would appear that regulations about appropriate apparel and pitches don't apply to some teams.

Instonians took drinks at 150/2, requiring 87 more runs off 25: a doddle; and no worries about Rush in the next round - you don't need to go through the Port Tunnel. But Scholtz made a double change at drinks. He himself immediately trapped Shannon lbw for 62. I don't know what FU was complaining about: Ian O'Herlihy didn't appeal, so it must have been out!

Todd was brought back at the Rathmines Road end, and tempted Molein (29) to spar at a lifter: Jonesey didn't drop this one, and it was 154/4, still a doddle, but a more interesting one. The trouble was that only McCarthy even looked as if he could hit the ball, and when he went for 12 that was 165/5 and game over.

Dockrell (4/28 off 8.5) and Scholtz (3/20 off 8) just had to bowl properly to pick the low-hanging fruit. Instonians were all out for 179 off 38.5 overs, Todd, Lennon, Gilmore and Mallon sharing 3 wickets in 22 overs for 131 runs.

The game was far from even-tempered. I only saw Leinster in the field, and they were far from blameless. I know the big boys do it on the telly, but the post-match huddle in the middle of the field totally ignoring the batting side as they troop off can not unreasonably be interpreted as disrespectful.

As far as I'm concerned, that's all the more reason to go into the bar: you lot can act the maggot; but we lot know how to conduct ourselves properly! And if nobody takes a drink, well, they could join me with a bottle of Erdinger unleaded.

On Saturday morning I drove through quite heavy rain on the M50, but, true to tradition, the sun always shines in Rush. The home team won the toss and inserted Leinster . Openers Jason Molins and Mark Jones took their time against decent bowling from Tipu Gull and Nazeer Shaukat.

But Jason started to move his feet well, and began to accumulate more quickly. Jonesey survived a caught and bowled chance to Keegan Clarke, took three fours off his next over, and nicked off to Shahid's bowling for his second successive 27.

70/1 became 100/2 when Keeley Todd (11) missed one from Eoghan Conway that went the other way. Anton Scholtz played some nice shots as he scored 20 of the next 34 runs before being bowled by fourth change Lionel Jansen's innocuous-looking off breaks.

JP O'Dwyer rapidly holed out to be replaced by Rob Miley, who took an age to settle down and didn't get enough strike to Molins. Jason was playing some delightful shots - one back foot drive was special - but seemed to lose patience when he skied Niall Mullen to mid off. Shahid, living up to his name, took the catch and split his finger.

After Molins's departure for 80 (10 fours and 2 sixes) the Leinster innings lost its way, 158/5 became 183/7 (Miley 19, O'Herlihy 8), Byron Vermaak (21) played a few big shots, but the drinks break score of 120/2 wasn't even doubled as the innings closed on 222 off 46 overs.

Nearly all the Rush bowling figures were tidy, the best coming from Lionel Jansen with 4/37 off his 10 overs. By this time we had established that the Gazette de Chateaubriand was more accurate with its fixtures than the Irish Times, which showed last week's cup semi finals as the main entertainment of the day.

Dan van Zyl is still on his holliers, so Keegan Clarke opened the batting with Fintan McAllister. The pair put on 33 before Clarke (15) was caught and bowled by Will Lennon. Tipu Gull and McAllister compiled a century partnership, Gull eventually being bowled by Dockrell for 41.

Nazeer slowly went about his business as McAllister drove and flicked his way to 83 (including a reverse sweep and 11 other fours plus two sixes) when he fell to a catch by Vermaak off Dockrell's bowling. Shahid had had enough suffering for the day as he holed out next ball, and Rush were 173/4.

Leinster now had a sniff, but Eoghan Conway survived a close run out appeal and a couple of difficult catching chances, and with the increasingly confident Nazeer (41*) took Rush past the Leinster score off the first ball of the 48th over, Conway ending on 15*, and Ernie Extras contributing 29 (20 wides) to the home team's cause.

Will Lennon bowled two great spells to finish with 1/17 off 10, and George Dockrell took 3/47 off his 10. The contributions of those two and Jason Molins apart, the Rathmines men had another off day. Unfortunately for them, Rush are a decent outfit, unlike Instonians.

In my playing days I was always happy to open the batting, and from the Swinging Sixties onwards I had plenty of partners. Some were a dream, like Jimmy Skelly of Civil Service; some were a nightmare, like Tom Dillon of Leinster .

Good guy although he was and is, Tom would drill the ball into the covers and, because it was a fine shot, start for a run. As you began to respond he would shout 'Go!' and by the time you had worked out that this was not 'No!' he was past you, and you were a Castlemahon chicken: plucked, stuffed and oven-ready.

Sachin Mistry of CYM is from the Tom Dillon school of horror movies. He opened the batting with Kenny McDonald on Sunday after Peter Byrne had won the toss for Pembroke. It took him no time at all to sell Kenny up the Swannee. He then lobbed Bill Whaley to mid on to make it 11/2.

CYM continued their 'Everyone Must Go' sale of the century. John Hoey patted Rick Francis to cover. Abraham Coetzee played a shot to square leg and lost his off stump. Aidan Kelleher hung around before guiding one to slip. Donal Vaughan , denied a runner (Mistry was not padded up), wafted and gave Stu McDonnell more catching practice. Nicol missed a straight one and it was 32/7.

Michael Launders and Keith McCarthy took the score to 60, just time for the Tallaght Tornado to grab top score from Ernie Extras' 14, when more Midsummer Madness set in. I don't know how long Plates Brennan has been playing, but long enough to know that you can hit the ball twice to defend your wicket. He didn't, and he didn't.

60 all out off 30 overs, Rick Francis returning 2/13 off 10, Bill Whaley 4/16 off 10, Andrew Balbirnie 1/10 off 5 and Jono Cooke 2/1 of 1.

Donal Vaughan was allowed a sub fielder (I'm still working that one out), and Pembroke made short work of scoring the necessary 61. Balbirnie (12) was bowled by a good one from Plates, and Cooke (11) by an equally good one from Coetzee.

Rick Francis (21) played some nice shots before running himself out (ably coached by Mistry), and Theo Lawson fooled Gordon Black into thinking he'd nicked one through to Kenny Mac. Graham McDonnell hit a nice off drive to finish things in 14.1 overs.

Brennan took 2/34 and Coetzee, in medium-paced mode, 1/16. CYM took 2 points and Pembroke the other 23. We had a top class tea afterwards (but no crumpet).

I didn't go up to see the second half of the match in the Park, because I didn't have my car. Fifteen years ago Bernie Vaughan decided that only bowls players, tennis players and alickadoos could use his car park, so I've been on the no. 16 bus ever since.