Yellow sliotar to be used for all inter-county games going forward

Cathal Malone of Clare in action against Ryan Mullaney of Laois during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland SHC qualifier last year. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The yellow sliotar is here to stay as it has been decided it will be used in all inter-county championship games.

The GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee have confirmed to the Irish Examiner the luminous ball will be the standard colour sliotar for matches after it was introduced for the Liam MacCarthy Cup at the end of last year.

One of the driving forces behind the yellow sliotar Pat Daly says it was a veritable success in the competition.

The GAA’s director of organisational culture, planning and development, said: “I would ring people after games, particularly after the Liam MacCarthy and Joe McDonagh Cup finals, and discretely figure if they noticed there was a yellow ball used in one (MacCarthy) and not in the other. Some did and some didn’t.

“The feedback I have received from people who mightn’t have great eyesight, old people in particular, was it was considerably easier to follow the game with the yellow sliotar. There was a bit of kickback against the yellow sliotar early on but that seemed to dissipate as the games were played.”

Daly suggests it would have been easier for umpires to determine if Antrim forward Niall McKenna’s shot crossed the goal-line in the Joe McDonagh Cup final had the ball been yellow.

“We had feedback from umpires that they were struggling to see white balls under lights. The yellow ball would have made a significant difference helping to make out if the ball crossed the line in the Christy Cup final and the same thing happened in the Joe McDonagh Cup final.

"It was very difficult to decipher if the whole ball had gone over the line. Had it been yellow, it would have been easier."

Daly said there remains a possibility the microchipped sliotar, aimed at ensuring consistency in the balls being used, could be introduced for the Championship but a date later in the year is more likely.

“The weight has been mentioned as something that needs to be increased but it’s just not that simple. It’s hard to know with Covid how this year and season is going to pan out, but I would like to think by the end of the year that we can move on how far the ball is moving and chip it.”