Cricket is one of the more frequently played games in darts. The winner in cricket is the person who closes out all of their numbers first AND has a higher total point score than their opponents. A number is one of the pie-shaped segments on dartboards (as a side note, our favorite dartboards are NODOR Dartboards) that surround the center bulls-eye, numbered “1″ through “20″. Each segment is also separated into sections which count for a single count, a double count, or a triple count. To “close out”, the player must land darts (we play with Harrows darts) inside that number in any combination such that a “three count” is achieved, e.g. closing out the 20 would require hitting three single-20’s, or one double-20 and one single-20, or a triple-20.
A standard cricket game only uses the pie segments numbered from 15 through 20, plus the center bulls-eye. Players take turns trying to “close out” these numbers with as few darts as possible, since you only have three dart throws per round. To add some complexity to the game, once a player has “closed out” a particular number, if their opponent has not yet closed out the same number, the player throwing can score points for hitting the number they just closed out. For example, player A goes first and throws a double 19 and a single 19, closing out that number for himself. He still has a dart, and player B has not closed the 19. Player A throws a double 19 and scores 38 “points” on a running tally.
This is really the challenge of the fun game of cricket, because a person can make up ground on an opponent who is ahead in two ways, first by closing numbers, to limit his opponent’s ability to increase his point score and get closer to having his own numbers closed, and second, by hitting his opponent in the “weak spots” where his opponent has numbers that are left open.
Any way you look at it, Cricket is a great action game.
