Cricket

Cricket is normally played one vs one or team vs team. It also works well with odd numbers of players as long as you play the "no points" version.

Cricket is a much more complicated game than 01, and strategy is much more important. In the Texas area, almost ½ of the organized dart games you play will be cricket. I'm told that it’s not common overseas.

The basic idea of the game is that the first team to close all the numbers (15’s through 20’s, and bulls), while at the same time being ahead or even on points, wins.

Nothing counts except the numbers 15 through 20, and bulls-eyes. Each player/team wants to close each of those by hitting three of each. Doubles and triples count. You win by closing all of the numbers and being ahead (or exactly even) on points. If you’ve closed, but are behind on points, then you still need points to win the game. If you’re opponent can close all of their numbers before you get ahead on points, he wins.

To close a number, you have to hit three "marks". That can be three singles, or a triple, or any combination. It can come all on one throw, or it can be a single mark on one throw, and the other marks later. When you have one mark on the number, it’s scored with a slash. With two marks on the number, you have an X. With all three marks, you have a circle. (If you hit all three on one throw, the slash, and the reverse slash making it an X, aren’t normally shown – you just draw a circle to mark them as closed.)

To get points, you must first close a number that the other team hasn’t closed, and then hit that number again. Every time you hit it, you get points for each mark. For instance, if I’ve closed 19’s, and my opponent hasn’t, I can throw at 19’s. A single 19 would be 19 points. A triple would be 57. A triple and a single would be 76. Whatever I scored would then be added to the number of points I already had.

In competitive darts, you will often see the teams pointing each other back and forth. For instance, team 1 may start by hitting 4 20’s. Team 2 could throw at 20’s to close up, but they are already behind on points, so they will usually throw at 19’s. They can’t score on 20’s, as team 1 already has them closed, so they move to the next number. They may hit five 19’s, which means team 1 is now behind on points. (20 to 38.) So team 1 throws at 20’s to get their points back, leaving team 2 behind. So team 2 throws at 19’s to regain the lead, etc. Eventually, either one team will get far enough ahead that they can throw at the other teams number, or one will decide to risk closing behind. If both teams throw good darts, you can have a lot of points scored, fast, with neither team able to try and close, because they are having to work just to keep up on points. You can close behind, of course, if you wish, but remember that you can’t win if you’re behind – being ahead (or even) on points is one of the requirements.

It isn’t required to throw at the numbers in order. Most players start on 20’s if they get the first shot in the game. After that, the player has to make their decision based on the situation. Some players like to move to "next door" numbers after closing, so after closing 20’s they would throw at 18’s, after throwing at 19’s they would throw at 17’s, etc. As a general rule, most players like to close large numbers first because of the points. (ie, if you hit 5 20’s while I hit 5 15’s, I’ll be 10 points behind even though I hit as many marks as you, because I was doing my scoring on a smaller number.) (5 20’s = close 20’s, score 40. 5 15’s closes, and scores 30.)

Don’t forget to practice your bulls. They are worth 25 each, and 50 for a double. Many cricket games are decided by a one-bulls difference, and if you’re having trouble hitting it, it could cost you the game.

There don’t have to be any points. If one team is able to close 20’s, 19’s, and all the rest (including the bulls) without hitting any points, they’ll still win as long as the other team hasn’t scored any points. However, even if you close everything, if you’re behind on points, you still need to point on whatever number the other team has open. (If the other team is ahead on points, and the game isn’t over, then there is some number that they haven't closed. If you can score enough points before they close out, you win. If they can close out before you can score the points, they win.)

Slop counts. You don’t have to call your shot, and if you hit something other than what you are throwing at, it still counts. Occasionally players playing for fun will agree to play no-slop, but in league or tournament play, everything you hit counts.

It is possible to play without points. In that case, the first team/person to close all the numbers wins, and you can’t score points. This works pretty good for new players, and it works for any number of players including odd numbers of players or teams. This is usually called "cricket, no points".

I’ve seen people play 3-way cricket using points. I don’t believe that works out well. I haven’t seen a good way to handle the score. Nothing you can do is logical. (For instance, player 1, & player 2 have closed 20’s, but player 3 hasn’t. If player 1 hits a 20, does he get points? One opponent has closed, and one hasn’t.) The best version I’ve seen is to give the score to the person who has not closed, with the goal being to have the lowest score when you’ve closed all your numbers. Regardless of how you handle points, it seems that two players can gang up on one player, and that one player doesn't have a very good chance to win. I don’t care for three-way cricket with points – if you want to play 3 way, I’d suggest cricket no points, or a completely different game.

I'm always interested in feedback. Just Email me with your comments!

QuickLinks :
Overview - Introduction to Darts
Index to Introduction to Darts
Beginners Only : Board set up and some basics.
Organized Darts (Tournaments and League's)
X01 and Cricket (The two basic games.)
Rules & Strategy : X01 (301, 501, etc.)
Rules & Strategy : Cricket
Rules & Strategy : Norvac
Rules & Strategy : Loops
Rules & Strategy : Super-Cricket (aka Full Board Cricket)
Rules & Strategy : Tic-Tac-Toe
Rules & Strategy : English-Cricket (bulls vs points)
Good Online Resources
Out Chart