Intermediate Cricket: How do you win at cricket? It is simple my dear Watson, simply stay either 4 darts or 5 darts ahead of your opponent. This does not give your opponent a chance to win the game before you shoot again and forces your opponent to shoot for points while under the gun (i.e. under pressure assuming that if your opponent wants to win against you then your opponent will ALSO be shooting to keep at least 4 darts ahead of you). Hopefully I have not lost you with this line of food for thought in cricket! Read on...

This means that even the novice darter may use this strategy to win against a better or more skillful player who does not necessarily use this same strategy. By keeping ahead of your opponent by 4 darts, you then have at least one more opportunity to shoot and possibly win the game.

Should you keep yourself 4 darts or rather 5 darts ahead of your opponent? It does not really matter in my book...either way you insure that you will have another turn before your opponent can win the game. It is a moot point in my book because you can win at cricket either way. 5 darts ahead of your opponent keeps you a little safer but does not guarantee multiple turns before your opponent may take the game out. So, my strategy is to stay at least 4 darts ahead of my opponent. This means my opponent is forced to hit at least 4 darts before winning - either at points or to close 16s, close 15s with 2 darts (a single and a double) to close bulls eyes AND I will have at least one more turn before my opponent can win. And with MY one more turn, if I hit numbers to again keep myself at minimum 4 darts ahead of my opponent, then my opponent still cannot win the game of cricket.

With the example above and a triple-16, triple-15 and 3 bulls needed to win, if the darter needs points then more then 2 darts at bulls-eyes will be required to win the game. You cannot go wrong, you absolutely cannot lose if you keep ahead of your opponent at all times by 4 darts!

Cricket is often a difficult game for some to master because as Chicago darter Ed DeBenke once said "Cricket is the thinking-man's game." As a darter you do not know what you will shoot at or what your strategy will be until AFTER your opponent has shot their turn. Then you must quickly analyze the score-board to determine what your best shot is, your best shot based on percentage is, and what your safest shots are as well as what you will shoot at with each dart if the dart thrown before that next dart does NOT hit your target. It can all be very confusing! When do you go for points? When do you go for the close? When do you move from numbers to the bulls-eye? Do you shoot at the numbers in order of 20s down to 15s and then bulls and when do you stray from that strategy and shoot for another number?

Most darters start out shooting at 20s. Why? Because when 20s are closed out and you hit a single or double or triple-20 for points, that dart - that single triple-20 dart is worth 60 points or rather the most points on the board. But when you start second and your opponent has 20s closed (but no points) do you go for 20s or 19s? The easy answer is "that all depends my dear Watson...". There is no right way and no wrong way to play cricket. The only bad way to play cricket is to be a mean dirty player and rack up hundreds and hundreds of points rather then winning the game or else by not shaking your opponent's hand when you have lost a cricket leg or cricket match. Everything else is pretty much fair in cricket, even dirty cricket and if you want to win at cricket then you have to assess your opponent's darts, play smart and usually this means to hit some points along the way to play it safe.

Again, there is no right way or wrong way to play cricket and you will learn as you go along. The best way to learn is to watch, play and ask lots of questions. Sooner or later if you're not picking up the strategy you will probably get tired of losing at cricket and then maybe you will start asking questions, reading and playing some more as well as competing more and finding your own strengths in the game.

When playing cricket in a blind draw - it is important to play "together" with your partner and to understand each other's strategy. If you unsure of what to shoot at, ask your partner. Often times the winner of a cricket game is not the team of the 2 best and most skillful darters but actually the "smartest" darters who play the smart strategy game of cricket. Want more cricket information? Search the web or better yet, read the book "FunDartmentals" available for sale at Bulls Eye News.com. This is a great book with an introduction to darts as well as a review of the various strategies for the games.

I will do my best to put some more cricket articles out here...it seems the more I play cricket the more I personally love the game of cricket and hopefully the better I that I become. Please E-mail your cricket questions to me at Cricket Question for the Passionate Darter. As always, shoot well and I will see you at the line.