IT SEEMS an odd coincidence that all but one of 12 Dublin clubs received a home draw for today's Royal Liver Cup second round ties. The conspiracy theorists will wonder whether the organisers have rigged a competition that has been dominated by Northern teams since its inception over a decade ago.

Pure chance, we're told. An open draw was held last October and it was the ICU chairman, Cecil Walker, a Northerner, who pulled the names from a bag. Still, even with home advantage, it's hard to foresee many Dublin clubs featuring when the draw for the third round takes place tomorrow afternoon.

Leinster's ineptitude while losing by seven wickets to the NCU last Saturday showed how alarmingly standards have dropped. Was this the best we could doe Apart from Alan Lewis, there was no batsman who looked capable of dominating for any length of time, and the attack was distinctly toothless.

Admittedly, the Leinster selectors had to make do with limited resources. Experienced players like Eddie Moore and Conor Hoey have lost interest in representative cricket, while many younger players are either injured, exam bound or confined to the Development Squad. As it was, 17 year old Ed Joyce had to be dragged from his study desk to open the batting last Saturday morning, with just one senior innings under his belt.

But the players who stood in had plenty of experience at interprovincial level and return good stats at the end of most Leinster club seasons. Therein lies the problem. The current standard of club cricket is so poor that it breeds bad habits, especially with the bat, and mediocrity breeds further mediocrity. When tested at a higher level, technical deficiencies become all too apparent.

In the meantime, we must hope for the odd inspired performance this afternoon and another kind draw tomorrow.

. South Leinster and North Leinster meet tomorrow in the first Tetra Pak Interprovincial of the season, at Malahide (12.0). South Leinster will miss Rachael Hardiman, who has retired, and Cliodhna Sharp, who is recovering from an operation.

North Leinster field a familiar side, with the notable exception of Lily Owens, another retiree. Tracy Skoyles returns after a year's sabbatical.