Limerick GAA have announced that Declan Hannon will continue as the county's hurling captain for 2020.

The increased number of championship games brought about by the provincial round-robin format makes it harder to successfully defend the Liam MacCarthy Cup, according to Limerick’s Diarmaid Byrnes.

Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy and former Cork boss John Meyler are set to lead the PwC All-Star 2019 and 2018 hurling teams when they head out to Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

The Kilfinane-native follows Paul Browne in stepping away from the Limerick panel.

Bruff man Browne made the announcement via the county board website this evening.

Kilkenny are champions of the inaugural New York Hurling Classic after a convincing 24-point win over Limerick in Citi Field.

“Getting the heads right” will be crucial if Limerick are to buck the dreadful All-Ireland semi-final record of recent Munster champions, according to Treaty midfielder Cian Lynch.

Dan Morrissey was among the thousands of Limerick supporters who took station on the Gaelic Grounds terrace the afternoon of the 2013 Munster hurling final.

"You talk about complacency" — Tommy Walsh

"You talk about complacency" — Tommy Walsh

From the Limerick team that lined out at Pearse Stadium, only three — Nicky Quaid, Richie McCarthy, and Paul Browne — have been exposed to top-tier league hurling. That’s a damning indictment of the county’s spring form over the past eight years.

Munster SHL final

Five Things We Found Out

The eternal tension arises between tradition and innovation. What we’ve always done, what we need to do now, and the trouble encountered in moving from one of those positions to the other.

A superior Clare qualified for their first Munster final in nine years but not without difficulty as a combination of poor shooting and Limerick’s tenacity made them sweat until the end.

For some managers there’s a sense of rationalising what’s happened with the league, or what hasn’t happened.

Na Piarsaigh duo Kevin Downes and Shane Dowling proved their worth to Limerick with 1-8 between them as the Shannonsiders secured a first Allianz hurling league semi-final place in a decade.

Clare 1-19 Limerick 0-18: All gory, no glory in Ennis as a wretch of a Division 1B “final” saw Clare ascend to Division 1A 12 months after they fell out of it, leaving Limerick marooned in the second tier of the competition for a seventh season.

Offaly 0-14 Limerick 1-19: Limerick’s Shannonside derby clash with Clare in a fortnight’s time will be a promotion showdown regardless of results next weekend after Limerick eased to an eight-point win over Offaly at O’Connor Park in Tullamore yesterday.

Limerick 2-23 Wexford 0-15: There was a time in the third quarter at a wet and dreary Gaelic Grounds on Saturday night when you suspected that the teams had just swapped playing kits at half-time, rather than changing ends.

Limerick got their latest drive for promotion from Division 1B off to an encouraging start as they led from pillar to post in wet and cold conditions at the Gaelic Grounds.

Confess it: when Dónal Óg Cusack criticised the decision to award Limerick a goal against Westmeath this summer you couldn’t have agreed more. Neither could we.

Dublin chairman Sean Shanley said they will in all likelihood contest Diarmuid Connolly’s red card in an attempt to make him available for Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

The referee at the heart of the disputed goal in Limerick’s All-Ireland SHC qualifier win over Westmeath in Mullingar last Sunday said he never doubted he and his umpire had made the right call in awarding the score.

RTÉ cameras did not conclusively prove Limerick should have had a goal disallowed against Westmeath, according to the GAA’s national games administration and national match officials manager Pat Doherty.

It’s funny how this whole thing works.

The novelty of victory hasn’t worn off on Graeme Mulcahy. His first four Munster championship games, going back to his debut as a substitute against Waterford in the 2009 semi-final replay, were defeats.

Nickie Quaid is Limerick’s sole major injury concern ahead of Sunday week’s Munster semi-final against Tipperary.

When Davy Fitzgerald and his backroom team sit down this week to analyse where things went wrong for Clare on Sunday in Thurles, they should identify three key areas which need major improvement: Use of possession, discipline, and the need to be more competitive in the vital midfield battleground.

The first half at Semple Stadium didn’t provide a great deal of entertainment, although the second was a distinct improvement.

The day of a big championship game, a fair few of the Clare lads used to think I was on another planet, that I didn’t know what nerves were, that I was so relaxed I was nearly horizontal.

Try this one on for size: Limerick — hurling’s best championship team? Bear with us. Name a team, any other team, who has undermined their league form come business time as much as the county this decade.

For the second year in a row, Offaly have brought an end to Limerick’s promotion aspirations in Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League.

Limerck and Waterford draw; Wins for Offaly and Wexford

Limerick 0-22 UCC 1-17: Waterford Crystal Cup SHC semi-final: Limerick ensured an early season repeat of the last two Munster SHC finals in next weekend’s Waterford Crystal Cup decider with this two point semi-final win over UCC.

Cummins or Nash? Bugler or Brendan Maher? Reid or Dowling? Picking the best hurling team of the last five years is no easy task

Cappoquin-Affane claimed Munster Club IHC glory at Mallow on Saturday as Killian O’Sullivan’s late point gave them victory.