Were it not for the events of the last month, tomorrow would have been the final Sunday of the Allianz National Hurling League Division One. Four counties would proceed to the semi-finals while most of the others twiddled their thumbs, trained and waited for the championship.

Two months ago, the decision to start the league at the beginning of February spread ripples of discontent through many counties. The unsatisfactory scheduling was exacerbated by all too seasonal weather. And by the abrupt suspension of the competition the word was already out that next season's league would be started before Christmas - reverting to the system in operation before the reforms of five years ago.

The rationale behind all of this was that it wasn't possible to play the league in hurling weather because of the fixtures logjam that would create. Now, thanks to unforeseen circumstances, the larger part of the regulation matches are to be played in April, and this unwitting improvement is welcomed by Tipperary manager Nicholas English.

"I'd be delighted with the league the way it is. It's much more relevant to be playing on April 1st than on the February 1st. We only started training on January 13th and weren't really ready when the league originally got under way. You're selecting and judging players who aren't fit enough. At least now it will be easier to assess form.

"We're playing Waterford, Kilkenny and Cork in the coming weeks. If those games were played two months ago there wouldn't be the same level of interest in them. Now with the clocks gone forward, everyone's thinking about hurling and focusing on the All-Ireland and how their county might do.

"There's a massive audience for hurling, but all sports audiences are very discerning and only want to go to the best events. You see it in rugby with the fall in attendances at All-Ireland League matches - because people know that it's no longer as important. If the hurling audience knows players aren't fit and the games aren't relevant, the public won't turn up."

Declining interest on the part of competing counties is a reflection of the escalating importance of and singleminded focus on the championship. For inter-county managers the league is about preparing for the summer, so it is an advantage to be playing competitively throughout April.

"Two or three Sundays is the ideal gap," says English. "We wouldn't have been disconcerted by having to play the league final so close to our first championship match last year. Whether it's good for the league to be running up to the championship is another matter, but we'll definitely benefit more from it being played now rather than in February and March.

"I don't mind the risk of injury. Playing every week is preferable to being finished in the league on April 1st and having to put in eight weeks opening fields and playing challenges."

Nicky Brennan is chairman of the Hurling Development Committee which has produced a new blueprint for the championship, but has also recommended the disjunction of the league from next season. He says that this was motivated by concern for decent conditions and is cautious about reading too much into the remainder of this season's competition with its rapid-fire programme of matches.

"It's no great secret that the Hurling Development Committee believes we shouldn't be playing in February, and that's why we moved to before Christmas. I accept that (April being the more suitable time of the year), but the other factor is that the public have been starved of action and unable to go anywhere and that will have a knock-on effect.

"But we can't have it every way. If you rush things off, you're competing for media coverage with yourself because there's only going to be the same space available, so it's a question of how you market the product.

"I think there is room for tightening things up, and it's possible that the playing of football and hurling league matches on the one weekend might become more common."

The front-loading of the year with National League matches, followed by lengthy gaps before a championship season organised largely on a sudden death basis, gives rise to frustration. English says the balance is wrong.

"At present we seem to be training to train. We train from early January to June 3rd and then play Clare. It will go wrong for either Clare or Tipperary that day and you'll be left with a team fit as fleas but nowhere to play. You train to play in front of big crowds."

For Brennan, the question is more complex than just the inter-county season. He concedes that the day of the dual player is past (English says that dual players are a "red herring" because managers tend not to pressurise them during the National Leagues), but that some obligation to them remains.

"They might be a dying breed, but we do the best we can for them." More critically, he sees the demands of clubs as presenting an obstacle.

"You have to bear in mind the club scene and that clubs need their players. If some clubs lose their county player, they go from being a good side to being a mediocre side. Counties also have different competitive structures.

"If you had a standard system in every county it would make for more meaningful national competition.

"In some ways the GAA has to have an unorthodox fixtures schedule, but it would be much simpler if you could impose a system on all counties. But it would be a brave man who'd take on that project."