Donal Og Cusack has criticised the GAA over their 'failure' "to expand the hurling map of Ireland even marginally" in 150 years.
The three-time All-Ireland highlighted that since 1945 only nine counties have lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup and said he believes that "hurling deserves better".
He said in his Hurling Nation segment on RTE Radio 1: "It's extremely likely that Carlow and Offaly will lose and neither team will play inter-county hurling again until next February. By then the buzz from the Joe McDonagh will be long gone.
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"They deserve better, and if we consider in almost 150 years of stewardship, the GAA has failed to expand the hurling map of Ireland even marginally, then hurling deserves better also.
"In fact, before the end of the Second World War, 11 different counties had won All-Ireland hurling titles. Since then, just nine counties have. The last new name on the cup was Offaly themselves, way back in 1981. We haven't had a first-time All-Ireland finalist since then. That's failure."
The former Cork goalkeeper went on to highlight that there are now just two provincial championships, stating that Leinster attendances are falling and that Munster "needs two teams to fall away before it follows the Leinster model".
He believes that the GAA need to come up with a plan to grow the sport, referencing how rugby has grown and the recent plan launched by the FAI.
The 46-year-old was speaking ahead of the All-Ireland Hurling Championship preliminary quarter-finals, which see Offaly face Tipperary and Carlow clash with Dublin on Saturday.
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