GAA: To anyone who witnessed Charlie Carter leaving Nowlan Park on Saturday evening, the announcement yesterday that he had quit the Kilkenny hurling panel came as absolutely no surprise.

Everything about Carter's body language suggested a player not just walking out for the night, but for good.

Talk of slammed doors was certainly a little exaggerated, yet Carter made eye-contact with no one, and instead walked, head down, through the tunnel and out the door like a man whose patience had visibly run dry.

The rest of the Kilkenny players were still opening their boot-laces.

If he can't get a role in the Kilkenny team as captain, then clearly he felt there was no longer any point in making all the necessary commitments.

While his retirement was still somewhat unexpected within hurling circles, there were several suggestions in recent weeks that he was having considerations about his future.

And the man probably least surprised by his decision is Kilkenny manager Brian Cody. Two weeks before the National League final, Carter was reported to have left, apparently over differences with Cody and the failure to get a proper chance at a starting place - although Carter denied such any action a week later at the Guinness launch of the hurling championship.

A week after that, in the league final, he appeared as substitute for the final 15 minutes and scored one of the crucial goals that helped secure the one-point win over Tipperary. In accepting the cup all appeared well, for the time being at least.

Then came last Saturday's Leinster semi-final against Dublin, where Kilkenny opened the defence of their All-Ireland title in a game they were always expected to win.

Again Carter failed to secure a starting place, but at no point either was he even considered for a substitution. While players like Conor Phelan were given championship debuts in the forward line, and then John Hoyne introduced as a substitute, it seemed Carter no longer had a role to play.

Yesterday morning, on Kilkenny radio, Carter confirmed his decision to retire from intercounty hurling, but didn't expand on the reasons why, except to claim that he had "lost the appetite for the game at that level".

He said he would continue to play for his club, Young Ireland's, but that there was no chance of him changing his decision and rejoining the panel at any stage.

Later, the station received several calls on the matter, mostly supporting Carter, but also supporting the management to ultimately make the calls.

It was felt Carter's failure to secure a starting place, or even a regular appearance from the substitute's bench, was clearly the reason behind his decision.

The Kilkenny captaincy will now almost certainly fall to DJ Carey, his Young Ireland's team-mate, who actually took charge against Dublin last Saturday.

It remains to be seen, however, what implications his retirement will have in the build-up to Kilkenny's Leinster final against Wexford on July 6th.

The fact is, the strength and depth of the current Kilkenny side is so substantial that his loss won't be particularly telling, and one of Cody's main assets is his ability to keep players focused on the game.

So the curtain comes down on the distinguished intercounty career of the 32-year-old, which started at senior level with a championship debut, ironically against Dublin, in 1991.

In that time, Carter won three All-Ireland medals, three runners-up medals, seven Leinster medals, three All Star awards, and three National League medals, as well as two Kilkenny hurling titles with Young Ireland's, Gowran.