The volume of work that those involved in intercounty hurling puts in these days has gone way beyond amateur level. Every team puts in three or four nights training a week for months on end in the run-up to the championship and the upshot is that players must eat and drink county hurling if they are to compete adequately.

Unfortunately, come May 30th, the last Sunday of the first month of summer, a number of teams who would genuinely fancy their chances of at least provincial success will be out of the championship. It's tough, but that's the game, and this year's championship promises to be an intriguing campaign because standards have levelled and no one team stands out as invincible.

The Munster and Leinster championships will both be extremely difficult to win. Leaving aside any observations on Limerick, for obvious reasons, I can genuinely make cases for Clare, Cork, Tipperary and Waterford to win the provincial title. That fact alone demonstrates just how tough and fascinating the entire campaign will be once the action commences.

Clare will be favourites, and rightly so. Everyone is saying they are the team to beat, but Tipperary are going well, Cork are very quiet and, when that happens, they must be watched even more carefully than ever, while Waterford, based on performances last year, will be very confident too. Nicky English said he wanted to use the National League to keep on winning. Reaching the league final has obviously been good for Tipperary's confidence.

Yet, once the championship gets going, I'd say there will be surprises left, right and centre. In fact, we are in for one hell of a campaign and, on any given day, anything is liable to happen.

One of the problems that Clare may have to contend with is how their St Joseph's contingent of Ollie Baker, Sean McMahon and Jamesie O'Connor cope with what has been virtually continuous hurling that involved winning the All-Ireland club championship, then into the league and, now, into the championship. Will they be mentally and physically tired? Or will they remain sharp? If they stay sharp, then that would be a huge boost for Clare's prospects.

Cork, Tipperary and Waterford are all improving sides and, from our point of view in Limerick, we've been preparing for the championship since last October - and that's the way it has been for teams who hope to win the McCarthy Cup.

Indeed, there was something very strange about the league this year as every county seemed to be using it as a stepping stone towards the championship. When the league started back in the '20s and '30s, that was the original idea and it seems we have come full circle. But there seems to be a body of opinion that the league is no longer vital, that if you lose there is no harm done, and that isn't good.

While five teams (Clare at number one in the pecking order, followed by Cork and Tipperary and then Limerick and Waterford) in the Munster Championship have genuine aspirations of winning the provincial title, the same is the case in Leinster where I expect to see another very tough campaign.

I've been looking at Kilkenny and am very impressed by what I have seen. They've come from a position where people were writing them off and Brian Cody has done well with them. They are a championship side and have a nice balance in the team.

Offaly, as All-Ireland champions, know what it takes to win. They're a proven team in the white heat of championship, but I would be worried if Brian Whelehan fails to get over his hamstring injury. They will still be there or thereabouts, but Offaly will be in serious trouble if they don't have Brian fit and available for the championship.

I'm also a little intrigued by how quiet Wexford are keeping, a little bit like Cork. They're not saying a word and people aren't talking too much about them, all of which suggests that anyone meeting them must be careful. Wexford have effectively had a two-year break and have a lot of disappointed players from last year who will want to prove something this year. No, Wexford can't be written off.

Kilkenny, Offaly and Wexford are obviously the main contenders in Leinster, but Laois can give anyone a run for their money and, while Dublin are in the bottom half with the likely winners in the province, they will be hoping to get it right and I was very impressed with some of their players when they met Limerick in the league. Still, Kilkenny are my fancy to win out in Leinster - with one proviso, that they don't meet Offaly in the final because they seem to know what it takes to beat Kilkenny.

Galway are obviously going to emerge from Connacht, while Antrim look to be the team set to come out of Ulster. I think Antrim surprised everyone with their performances in the league and they have certainly improved over the past 12 months. However, the inadequacy of the present set-up is that Antrim (most likely) will go into the All-Ireland quarter-finals without the volume of matches that their opponents, whoever that may be, will have benefited from in their provincial championship.

It's a similar problem for Galway, but at least they've used the National League well - which is vital for them given their lack of serious matches from now until July 25th - and it is interesting to see them trying a different style of game this year. However, I think they are still hitting too many wides for the amount of possession that they get in a match and that is something they have to work on. I think they may have to wait another year or two, though, to make the really big breakthrough and I don't think this will be their championship year.

Of course, they could prove me wrong - and that is one of the reasons why I anticipate surprises left, right and centre throughout the summer.

(In an interview with Philip Reid).