"Obviously my face must not fit" - Rob Cross reacts to perceived slight by Sky Sports
PDC
The 2025 Premier League Darts season gets underway in Belfast tonight. On opening night, Rob Cross will take on the returning Stephen Bunting in the quarter-finals. Despite being the current world number four and the recently crowned Dutch Darts Masters winner though, 'Voltage' heads to the Premier League somewhat under the radar.
Cross, the losing finalist of the 2019 Premier League Darts, is eagerly looking forward to this tournament. "Confidence is high with the way I've been playing, I'm happy with my game. So yeah, just can't wait to get started," previews Cross at the PDC's pre-Premier League press day. "The thing with the Premier League is, it's obviously not a ranking tournament, but it's probably the second biggest one, just below the Worlds. So to come out and win that, it would be a dream really."
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With this year's campaign marking Cross' sixth appearance in the Premier League Darts, the Englishman knows all too well how tough the rigours of 16 straight weeks of competition can be. "I had a bad six weeks in a row last year, I never really picked any points up," he recalls. "If I didn't do that, I would have been very close, so for me, I just need to probably stay a little bit more focused maybe, maybe have a bit of time on the board just to correct the things that I'm doing wrong. I never did that last year."
Earlier this week, the PDC announced a new, long-term TV deal with Sky Sports. The British broadcaster will now continue to show the sport's major tournaments until 2030. On the promotional poster for the announcement were 10 players, including Beau Greaves, Fallon Sherrock, Gary Anderson and seven of the Premier League Darts lineup, with only Cross absent. Many perceived this to be a slight at the former world champion, but how did Cross himself feel about the snub? "Obviously my face must not fit," he laughs. "It's one of them - but they're still going to be seeing me for 16 weeks now. I'm not really too bothered. I've never really played darts for the limelight, I'm not one of those people."
"Some people thrive off it," he continues. "When I won the World Championship, was I ready to be in the spotlight? Probably not. Did I really want to be in the spotlight? Probably not. But I did it, I fronted it, and I learnt a lot that year. I'm just happy as long as the cheque hits the bank at the weekend and I can feed the family on Monday."
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- Beau also skipped Players Championships 7 & 8 next week, and PC 3 & 4 four weeks ago. If she next chooses to miss the Women's Series and PC 13 & 14 in mid-April then we can make a fair guess as to her reason.Scoobedybop13-03-2025
- I've commented before,Phil should let us all remember how great he was,and leave your darts in the drawer. Another humiliation will tarnish everything,you couldn't even beat old blokes who you would have beaten before the game started !!rick6712-03-2025
- I've commented before,Phil should let us all remember how great he was,and leave your darts in the drawer. Another humiliation will tarnish everything,you couldn't even beat old blokes who you would have beaten before the game started !!rick6712-03-2025
- Aspinall was a no-show: Carl Sneyd steps in from the Challenge Tour.Scoobedybop11-03-2025
- Likewise, I have always been a fan of Mervyn and with this worry on his mind, it explains why his form and ranking plummeted. It is really sad to hear this, often chatted to Mervyn and Tracey during the Lakeside days, both are lovely people. It does seem naive not acknowledging the fact it was earnings, surely there must be others in the same situation. I really hope the Kings can get through this....would a go fund me be permittedrichieburnettrocks11-03-2025
- I always like Merv,but he does he seems slightly naive with his comments. I wish you all the best, hope you can get sorted,and try and get back to a decent game,a bit of money.....and get rid of the dogs,if that's your main concern,I believe your priorities may be slightly wrongrick6710-03-2025
- What’s with the dogs element to this story, trying to pull at the heart strings? Just goes to show that being a good dart player does not equate to being that bright. Seriously, ‘I thought you didn’t have to pay tax on winnings’ , your a pro dart player and its your line of work, your not playing the lottery or placing a bet. I think it was Phil Taylor who said you should put a third to one side of all winnings into a bank account, obviously Merv was wearing his earplugs at the time.Mysstree10-03-2025
- The thing is... the folks who "humiliated" Taylor in the Seniors Events never really achieved anything in the important events - like Taylor did. Taylor had/has nothing to prove... and beating Taylor after he had retired is of zero value. Taylor in his prime would have made easy work of all of them. Cheers.MrYnyslas197107-03-2025
- Taylor was humiliated in the seniors events,so he really has nothing to lose by playing littler. I think he should put his darts away,and let us remember what a great player he wasrick6706-03-2025
- actually, since you're asking... yes. yes i do.colt06-03-2025