Gaelic Games: Gerard Cavlan has left the Tyrone squad and may not play next season. The classy attacker has told manager Mickey Harte he doesn't feel he has the commitment required for the county's bid to return to supremacy in 2005.

The absence of the Dungannon Clarkes man comes as a major blow to his county's cause, and follows the decision of fellow half forward Brian McGuigan to travel to Australia next month. Midfielder Kevin Hughes is also bound for the Southern Hemisphere and will miss the entire season.

And the All-Ireland winning boss admitted that his talented and versatile forward may not feature at all in the coming season.

"That certainly is a possibility. He certainly hasn't convinced himself that he wants to play this year. And if he hasn't convinced himself, it would be difficult to convince anybody else."

While McGuigan has open-ended plans for his trip to Australia, Harte remains hopeful that he could be back in time for the Ulster championship, and was heartened by the Ardboe man's participation in pre-season trials.

"He attended the trials and has made himself available for the McKenna Cup, so he's fairly keen to be around the squad."

McGuigan will travel to Hong Kong with the All Stars at the end of January, and travel on to Australia.

Meanwhile, Brian Dooher has been named as Tyrone football captain for a second season, Harte confirmed.

The playmaker half-forward was promoted to the role after the tragic death of Cormac McAnallen last March.

Ryan Mellon is back in the panel after being ruled out for 12 months with a viral infection, while Peter Canavan has taken part in all the trial matches to date. However, under-21 captain Dermot Carlin is to travel to America and will not be available for the senior panel.

"We have plenty of new faces coming in but the return of Ryan is a bonus," said Harte.

The GAA in Galway is cracking down on video operators, with anyone who wants to tape a game now required to have written permission from the county board.

And they have not ruled out charging video operators a fee to record games, as they introduce measures aimed at "bringing some order" to the area.

The recording of matches has become a lucrative business for some video operators, especially for club championship games.

Tapes are being increasingly used by disciplinary committees of county boards, leading to calls that only "neutral" videos be used for such a purpose.

"You could have a situation where somebody is recording the match for one club and when there is an incident, such as a melee, the video operator would concentrate primarily on the opposition, showing them in a bad light. It is important to know who is recording the game," said one source.

Galway hurling champions Athenry were incensed when video evidence was used to suspend one of their players following a fractious quarter-final clash against Loughrea this year.

The chairman of the Galway County Board, Frank Burke, said they would be "reasonable" with anyone who wanted to record a match.

"But it is important to know who is recording games. It is not our intention to start refusing operators permission, but from now on they must received written permission before they can record a game," he said.