Donal Og Cusack has described being chosen as Cork senior hurling captain as a "great honour" for himself and his family.

The Cork goalkeeper was named captain for the 2012 season over the weekend by new manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy, who handed the Cloyne man his championship debut in a red jersey against Waterford back in 1999, with Cusack also adding that it is a proud moment for his native club.

"It's a great honour for myself, my family and friends and for Cloyne to be made captain of the Cork senior hurling team," Cusack told the Irish Examiner.

"I'd like to thank JimmyBarry-Murphy and the management team for giving me that honour, and I'll be giving it everything I have - Corcaigh abu."

Barry-Murphy felt that the veteran net-minder was an obvious choice for the management team, having already won three All-Ireland SHC medals with the Rebels in 1999, 2004, and 2005.

"Shane O'Neill (the previous captain) came to me and said he wanted to step down, he's had a lot of injuries over the last couple of years and he wants to concentrate on getting himself right. We felt Donal Óg was the obvious choice - he has the experience to bring to the job, particularly given the present situation, he's a very experienced player and he's been there a long time.

"With Patrick, we felt we wanted to give him some extra responsibility, that he can show some leadership up front as well. He's shown fantastic form for his club in recent years and we wanted to share the responsibility around." Tweet

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