Cross upset about cheating suspicions from King: “I’ve never ever been accused of being a cheat in my life”
PDC
Rob Cross lost 10-5 to Mervyn King over the weekend at The Masters but the main talking point came from cheating suspicions levied at Voltage during the tie.
Cross had to move to the end of the oche to hit double 16 but King complained that it was potentially over the line and speaking to Darts World, he has now had his say.
“I really was shocked about what happened. I’ve never ever been accused of being a cheat in my life. Because that’s what it sounded like,” said Cross to Darts World.
“As far as I was concerned I stood on the line. The referee didn’t say anything and he was watching me.
“Obviously what was said on stage annoyed me. It certainly had an effect on me. I’m not saying it would have changed the result. Mervyn was 9-4 in front and on the way to winning deservedly.
“But I don’t understand why he would say my foot was over the line. He knows I’m not the sort to try anything. He knows I’m not the sort on anything like that.
“I’m pretty sure that I was further away from the board from where I threw from than the oche line anyway.
“But it’s very disappointing that someone who claims to be a mate would basically suggest that I would intentionally cheat. Never have, never will.”
“I gave Mervyn a lot of time before we played, practising and socialising and then that is said,” he continued.
“I really don’t think it is acceptable that a player can suggest something like cheating when the referee didn’t even feel the need to speak to me. Let alone the angle Merv was looking at from behind me.”
The way the oche is set up for PDC events is an invitation for these kind of complaints. If the player goes wide of the raised oche to get an angle, there are no markings on the floor to aid the player in staying legal. It's a fairly easy fix: 1. Don't allow the player to go beyond the raised oche or 2. Extend the raised oche to the edge of the exclusion zone on both sides or 3. Put a line on the floor (taped or painted) to the edge of the exclusion zone, so the player, his opponent and the referee all can tell that encroachment past the oche line isn't happening.
Number three would work best - Chris Mason suggested it on commentary and I think this would be the easiest solution. A strip of tape or metal the ref can clearly see and the player must get a thumbs up from the ref before throwing. In my opinion, Cross wasn't cheating, the ref made a bad call.
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