Cricket Darts Rules and Strategy Guide

What is Cricket Darts?

Cricket is a strategic darts game that's wildly popular in bars, pubs, and leagues — especially in North America. Unlike 501, where you're racing against a number, Cricket pits you against your opponent in a battle of territory and points.

The Numbers in Play

Cricket only uses specific numbers on the dartboard:

15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Bullseye (inner and outer)

All other numbers are irrelevant in Cricket. If your dart lands in the 5 or 12 section, it doesn't count for anything.

How Marking Works

To "close" a number, you need to hit it three times. The type of hit matters:

Single: 1 mark
Double: 2 marks
Treble: 3 marks (closes the number in one dart!)

For the bullseye: the outer bull counts as 1 mark, and the inner bull counts as 2 marks.

Scoring Points

Here's where Cricket gets strategic. Once you've closed a number but your opponent hasn't, every additional hit on that number scores points for you at face value. So if you've closed 20 and your opponent hasn't, hitting single 20 adds 20 to your score.

However, once both players have closed a number, it's dead — no more points can be scored on it.

Winning the Game

To win Cricket, you must:

Close all seven targets (15-20 and bullseye)
Have equal or more points than your opponent

This means you can't just rush to close everything — if your opponent has more points, you need to either score more or prevent them from scoring.

Strategic Tips

Start with 20s. They offer the highest scoring potential once closed.
Close defensively when your opponent is scoring on a number you haven't closed.
The bullseye is often last — it's the hardest target, so many players save it for the end.
Watch the scoreboard. PilPlay's Cricket display makes it easy to see who needs what at a glance.

Looking for more game variety? Learn the rules of X01 darts or try Around the World for a great practice routine. Check out all PilPlay features to see what's included.