Cummins Sports left disappointed with decision on sliothars

Opener for ten: what was different about last year’s All-Ireland senior hurling final compared to the 22 that preceded it?

Obviously, Limerick winning was nothing new; and it was Kilkenny they beat in the decider for the second year in a row, a classic Munster champions-Leinster champions match-up.

The Shannonsiders didn’t score a goal, but then neither they did manage that in 2020 against Waterford while Galway also defeated the Déise in 2017 without raising a green flag. Limerick put 30 balls over the bar last July, but not one of them was a Cummins All-Star.

The Cork firm has been operating for more than 52 years, initially called Cummins O’Leary as Ger O’Leary was involved with the Cummins family.

The logo on the sliothars, featuring the signature of William Cummins above the Cork coat of arms, is instantly recognisable, while the name was an acknowledgement of the fact that Ray Cummins was named on both inaugural All-Star teams in 1971 – an achievement that remains unique.

It was fitting that Ray was the captain of the Cork team that won the All-Ireland in 1976, the first year that Cummins balls were used in the final and since then they have become synonymous with top-level hurling, used by most counties

Or, rather, they were until the end of 2022. At the beginning of the following year, Cummins Sports were informed that a new series of tests would apply to determine sliothar eligibility. Only two companies –Dublin-based O’Neills, which has produced equipment since 1971, and Green Fields, a relative newcomer from Kilkenny – managed to reach the required levels and

Cummins were left on the outside looking in.

Kevin Cummins had already left without a house as 2023 began, due to a fire just before Christmas – thankfully with the avoidance of any injury – but this was another blow. Obviously, the business took a hit as counties’ orders dried up but it has never been just about the business for the family. They are steeped in the GAA.

“My grand-uncle [former Cork hurler William ‘Bowler’ Walsh of Sarsfields] was secretary of Cork County Board for six years,” says Kevin.

“They won six All-Irelands in six years, 1941-46, that era. My father played alongside Christy Ring when he won his first All-Ireland medal.

“Ray is Ray, Brendan won All-Irelands too and I did my own bit. I’m still coaching at the moment and I’m nearly 80.”

Kevin has always had the ethos of ensuring that Cummins did their work well and did their work properly. Initially, his father William, a former Cork hurler who was retired from Dunlops, stitched the sliothars together, roping in friends too.

As the orders grew, cobblers around Cork were enlisted, with the company supplying sections of leather already cut. Later, a production base was sourced in Pakistan and Kevin undertook many visits to ensure that no exploitative labour practices were involved.

Last year, steps were taken in the hope that the Cummins All-Star would be back on the inter-county roster for the coming season. And there was progress – of sorts.

“We passed all the tests, a totally kosher ball,” Kevin Cummins says, “but can only supply balls for the minor and U20 grades.

If you’re the secretary of Cork County Board, you’re hardly going to order from us for minor and U20 and order alternative balls for the senior team.

“We haven’t had any queries for balls for minor or U20 and I didn’t expect any, despite the fact that so many were using our balls up to 2022.

“How was a decision reached that our ball, used for the last 50 years and having passed all the tests, was only good enough for minor and U20 but not senior? It feels very strange.”

BLOW

Naturally, it is another blow to the company, especially given the unusual feeling of being back in the mix but not quite. Kevin Cummins is still looking for answers.

“We’re hugely disappointed,” he says, “we feel very let down.

“We can’t see any sense to the current restriction. What county is going to say, ‘We’ll get the minor balls from Cummins and go elsewhere for the senior balls?’”

It is a challenge but then the company has always met them and continues to do so, in the retail field as well.

“It’s very tough,” Kevin says.

“You only have to look through The Echo to see that there are businesses closing down every week.

“The cost of labour is very expensive now and so much has gone online.

We never really recovered from the pandemic, we didn’t get the trade back afterwards. Everybody went online then – and we got a lot of that at the time – but when shops opened again, people stayed online.

“If you want to buy a pair of Nike shoes, you got to Nike or Amazon or whoever.”

The hope is that good customer service is something that people will continue to value and that is an area in which Kevin feels they have always been strong.

“We have people working with us that came into us as schoolkids in fourth or fifth year, doing part-time work,” he says.

“They ended up then going to university and staying working part-time. Going back years ago. I could see fellas coming into us after the Junior Cert and working, having money in their pockets and deciding not to go back to school at all.

“We inaugurated a programme whereby, if you wanted to go back to college, we would pay your fees as a way of encouraging that.

“We always underpinned our business with the motto of, ‘Employ nice people.’

“That’s the secret to good customer service and you’re hoping then that that niceness will rub off on the customer.”