Kevin Cummins: A consistent sliotar has had a huge impact on how hurling is played

Now that most past provincial, National League and All-Ireland hurling finals are available online, the dramatic improvement in skill levels in the past 15 years is dramatic

Kevin Cummins with the new yellow sliotars which will be used in this year's championship. Picture Dan Linehan 

John Fogarty’s article in Tuesday’s Irish Examiner gave a vivid picture of the impact Covid-19 has had on inter-county competitions, both from the players’ and the journalists’ perspective. I was interested in the '10 reasons for high scores' and while I agree with most of them I would like to add some light and, maybe, contradict his point on the sliotar.

As my family has a vested interest in said sliotar, I have watched with interest the mounting scores in games in recent years and the accompanying commentary.