Ten years have now elapsed since Tipperary won an All-Ireland title. The old debate about whether that team under-achieved has gradually given way to a curiosity about what has happened to the county in the intervening years. One Munster title, an All-Ireland final appearance courtesy of the "back door" and three National Hurling League wins is the interim haul as the wait for an All-Ireland moves into a second decade.

Anyone in the Tipperary hurling community can rattle off the near misses that haunted the team during that time. If taken to their logical conclusion, the regrets encompass nine successive All-Irelands, from the blip against Cork in 1990 and '92 through to the one-point defeat by Clare in the 1997 All-Ireland final.

One of the major contributors to the success of Babs Keating's team, particularly in 1991, was Michael Cleary. The Nenagh man's scoring exploits included the - admittedly deflected - goal from a free that ultimately decided the All-Ireland final against Kilkenny that year. His accuracy kept the team afloat against Cork over two memorable Munster final matches that summer.

He makes the preliminary point that the county and the country at large tend to overlook the track record of hurling in Tipperary when Keating took over. "There was a league win in 1979 but nothing in the championship except a couple of draws. That meant 11 years with no continuity in selection, players coming and going."

There is a similar process at work in the painstakingly slow and frustrating rebuilding programme of recent years. Players have been tried in league and championship. An under-21 All-Ireland six years ago promised some fresh talent but provides only three players for tomorrow, two of whom, Brendan Cummins and Tommy Dunne, were already established senior players at the time.

"After four or five years trying out players we've arrived at a situation where the county has around 30 players, no superstars but good hurlers. Moulding that into a first-choice team is the problem. There are few enough absolutely established players, fellas who can survive a bad display because everyone knows they're the best in their position.

"This is a problem for a lot of players. The last thing you need when you're trying to build an inter-county career is to be looking over your shoulder every time you go out. Expectations are high in the county and it's not easy to hold on to a player who's not going well no matter how highly a manager rates him.

"Being obliged to chop and change if you're not getting consistent performances is hard for a manager. Babs was able to do it because he's crocodile skinned. There's few as immune to criticism as he is. In fact, I'd say he used to enjoy it. If he believed in a player he didn't care what people were saying."

Tomorrow's team has acquired a settled look in the third year of Nicky English's management term. The only change sees the return of David Kennedy after injury. But that progress is only a step along the way. The immediate task is to win a Munster title and mount a serious challenge for Kilkenny's All-Ireland. Cleary believes there is even more pressure on Tipperary teams.

"Tipp always want to put out 15 hurlers. Maybe Big (Cormac) Bonner was there for his size but he could hurl as well. People aren't just happy winning. They want a bit of style and class as well. Even back in the '50s and '60s, the backs were hard men but up front there were players like Jimmy Doyle, Donie Nealon and Babs who were very innovative for their time, creative hurlers."

Cleary also believes that there is a special aspect to Limerick-Tipperary matches. "We would always respect Limerick even when we were on top because they didn't seem overawed by us. They would be wary of Cork but against Tipp they always played a very aggressive, blunt game and relished beating us - but I suppose what county doesn't?"