McCrickard first played hurling as a student at St Patrick's Grammar School in Downpatrick.
He won a Down SHC medal after beating Ballycran in the 2020 final replay.
[3] Sands first lined out at inter-county level with Down during a two-year stint with the minor team in 2015 and 2016.
Sands was a back-to-back Christy Ring Cup runner-up in 2019 and 2020, however, in spite of those defeats he won a National Hurling League Division 2B medal in 2020.
[7] Sands claimed a second personal accolade in 2022 when he was selected on the Joe McDonagh Cup Team of the Year.