Five-time All-Ireland winner James ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick has ended his inter-county career with Kilkenny aged just 26.
The three-time All-Star captained the team to victory in 2008 but he plans to go travelling next year and decided that it was the right time to end his involvement at the highest level of hurling.
Fitzpatrick has struggled to get into Brian Cody’s plans in recent times and this too played a part in his decision to walk away.
“I haven’t been able to nail down a place on the team for a while,” he said. “As I don’t think I am getting any faster, it is time to go,” he said.
The Ballyhale midfielder was one of the stars of the Cody team that won four-in-a-row and he won the young hurler of the year award just five years ago.
But now he joins James Ryall, Derek Lyng and Martin Comerford as Kilkenny stars who have quit in the last 12 months.