Cunningham regret at loss of ‘major influence’

The text was short and – in the way of these things – succinct: ‘Complete rupture Achilles.Op l8r today.Thks 2medics, officials & gardaí at Semple. Also Tom Barry & Sean Allen.Thks 2all 4kind msges also.’

This did @DonalOgC — Donal Óg Cusack — let his 5,927 Twitter followers know the news Cork hurling fans had been dreading. A complete rupture of the Achilles tendon, an operation, carried out yesterday afternoon in Dublin.

“Sport is cruel, isn’t it?” was Ger Cunningham’s reaction; “For such a serious injury to come from such a simple incident.”