PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter on Cross Premier League exclusion: "He’s not quite there yet, on a consistency basis"

One of the main glaring omissions from this year's Premier League Darts was Rob Cross with Joe Cullen pipping him to the spot as a result of winning the Masters.

Speaking during his interview with Online Darts, PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter explained why he wasn't involved in the line-up despite winning a ranked televised major last year.

“Rob has been very unlucky. Rob is a class act and a lovely guy,” Porter told Online Darts TV.

“We want nothing more than to see Rob Cross and every other player at the top of their game and Rob showed a lot in the latter half of last year that he was getting back towards his best.

“He’s not quite there yet, on a consistency basis, but he is delivering that A-game that won him the World Championship and has won him other titles before.

“So Rob was very unlucky – Dimitri [Van den Burgh] was very unlucky, Jose [de Sousa] was very unlucky.

“Ultimately with the format changing from 10 players to eight players, some were going to be unlucky. I think they’ve just been victims of circumstance, which is unfortunate.”

He also discussed the inclusion of Cullen who so far has reached the final in Week Two.

“Joe has been knocking on the door for ages,” Porter added. “Not like, say Michael Smith, who’s been in and around semis and finals – but Joe has been a consistent performer without ever really hitting those heights.

“He always had the game, he just never had it on a regular enough basis.

“He showed in Milton Keynes that he can do it and hopefully this is a springboard for him now to really establish himself now in the elite of the sport, because he’s a good lad, a good player and he’s capable of being in that position.

“So fingers crossed it’s an opportunity he takes. There were obviously other players in contention but I think it was a case of taking a view that it was an impressive weekend from Joe, and going into the Premier League he’d be on good form.”