Ear Defenders Today, Gone Tomorrow As The Price Is Too High For The PDC

Most people are willing to try almost everything at least once during their lives and Gerwyn Price got to do that with his novel ear defenders routine when he recently shocked the Alexandra Palace crowd by coming out wearing a pair for the fifth set of his shock, and unexpected, defeat in the World Championship quarter final tie with Germany's Gabriel Clemons last month.

Whilst being based in some sensible fact given the noise at Ally Pally, the Professional Darts Corporation committee were less than amused with the stunt and Price has admitted that he will have to simply 'grin and bear' it in the future after they moved quickly to change the PDC rules and regulations forbidding the use of such equipment in future events. The Slot Streamers and keen darts enthusiasts at FruitySlots have made it clear they don’t think he will get through many more matches before more changes are announced.

Some will say that the new rules that have come into force are quite bizarre. The new regulations state that. "Players are not permitted to wear earphones, headphones or headphone-type ear defenders during the throw at the bull prior to the match or during matchplay."

However, participants can continue to wear in ear ear plugs to help drown out the noise created by loyal and fervent fans, such as those favoured by the likes of Mervyn King. Speaking about the changes at the start of this year's Premier League competition in Belfast, Price was clearly less than impressed with a rule change that effectively creates a double standard in the eyes of many (or maybe even the ears of many) as he explained in ear plugs simply were not his preference, and he preferred to not comment further - presumably through the fear of sanctions.

"I wore the ear defenders once and I won't be wearing them again. It's best left at that if I'm honest with you. I'm not a fan of in-ear plugs that Mervyn King wears. I've just got to grin and bear with whatever comes my way like I have the last couple of years, and just play darts. I'm here to play darts. I'm here to do the best I can, whatever is thrown at me. That's all I can do, so looking forward to playing in Belfast and Cardiff next week. Hopefully I can reward the crowd again with some good darts and hopefully one or two nine-darters as well. I want to do well in the Premier League right now. I'm here to win. Right here, right now, this is where I play well.

" Having previously threatened to never grace the Ally Pally oche again following his recent experience, there will be those out there wondering why he is making such an issue of it as oe of the big draws of darts is the atmosphere - equally there will be those who understand the fine margins in the professional game, and the matchplay damage (let alone financial damage) that can be caused by an unexpected distraction just as you released the dart. There will also be those who point to chants and perceived banter that simply should not take place in this day and age.

Price is obviously part of the eight man cast for 2023 alongside reigning world champ Michael Smith, reigning Premier League winner Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Jonny Clayton, Nathan Aspinall, Dimitri Van den Bergh and newly crowned Masters winner Chris Dobey.

It all kicks off again on Thursday evening, so we will have to see what we are in store for.