How to Play English Cricket Darts

English Cricket darts is a game that, despite the name, is mostly played in the United States. It is a two player (or teams) game that is more aimed as a play-for-fun game for intermediate to advanced level players. The game requires a heavy focus on being able to hit the “Bullseye” segment of the dartboard consistently. Therefore, it may not be as friendly to newcomers to the game as other games are. However, if you are at an adequate level this game can help with scoring and accuracy.

Rules

• One Player will be the Batter.
• One Player will be the Bowler.
• The Batter goes first.

Scoring English Cricket

Scoring of this game is relatively simple and should not require too much expertise to work out.

The batter will begin the game on zero runs. With each go they get they will aim to score as much as possible. Any score of 39 or less will score zero runs. Any score between 40-59 will score one run, any score between 60-79 will score three runs and so on down the line. Each player will aim to get as many runs as possible before the end of their round.

The bowler will begin the game with ten lines (wickets) on the scoreboard. During each turn at the board, they will throw at the bullseye with the single bullseye segment erasing one wicket and the double bullseye segment erasing two. Once the bowler has hit enough targets to knock out all the wickets then that round is over.

Once the round is over the players will swap positions. The player that was previously batting will begin throwing at the bullseye while the player that was previously bowling will now attempt to score as many runs as possible.

The winner is the player who scores the most runs after both players have had their turn batting.

Strategy in English Cricket

The game has very little strategy attached to it. However, as a general rule you should never begin to have faith in the idea that as batter you may get an off go. You should play every throw like it is your last because with the exception of the first throw it could be (also depending on how their first throw at the bullseye goes). The bowler can eliminate six wickets in one throw with three perfectly thrown darts meaning that theoretically with just five well thrown darts you could be out. This would mean you are guaranteed six darts at the board and that’s it. So, be sure that you are always make sure you are throwing the highest ability possible in this game.

If you are bowling it is beneficial to hit the double bullseye of course but do not get embroiled in the idea that you must hit the double. When this happens, you begin feeling anger at every miss which in turn makes you more likely to miss. Of course you should go for the double bullseye, but just a single wicket knocked off can make all the difference in the long run.