Aidan McCarthy has denied that he walked off the Clare panel, insisting that he was "willing, ready and able" to line out in last week's Munster SHC game against Tipperary.
McCarthy, Clare's chief free-taker in recent years, was not included in the matchday 26 for last Saturday's loss in Ennis.
Instead, the Clare forward lined out with his club Inagh-Kilnamona a few hours earlier, featuring in their league win over St Joseph's Doora/Barefield.
Rumours swirled that McCarthy had opted out of the inter-county panel, but the forward posted on X this afternoon that he had been willing to play for Clare last weekend, "if selected".
"Just to clarify and confirm, I did not walk off the Clare senior hurling panel. I was willing, ready and able to line out for my county against Tipperary on Saturday evening if selected," he wrote on X.
The 25-year-old has been a regular for Clare since the start of the decade, taking over placed-ball duties from Tony Kelly in 2023 and hitting 1-07 in last year's All-Ireland victory over Cork.
However, he struggled in his most recent outing, missing a series of frees in the damaging round-two defeat to Waterford and was hauled off by manager Brian Lohan early in the second half.
The All-Ireland holders have not yet been formally eliminated from the 2025 championship, though with just one point from three games to date, they are dependent on results going their way this weekend, ahead of a trip to face Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds in the final round.
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Watch a Munster Hurling Championship double-header, Tipperary v Waterford and Limerick v Cork, on Sunday from 1.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
