Rob Cross fires bold warning to Littler, Humpries and Van Gerwen at World Matchplay

Rob Cross has revealed that he is hoping to ‘rule the roost’ after a strong start at the World Matchplay.

The 33-year-old cruised to an 11-6 victory in his last 16 clash with Ryan Searle on Wednesday afternoon, averaging an impressive 106.99 to book his spot in the final eight of the competition.

Cross crashed in a brace of ten-darters within the opening six legs of the contest to set the tone on the Winter Gardens stage as he bids to reclaim the title which he won in 2019. The Englishman has endured a rocky spell of late, but Cross feels that he has improved recently and aims to build on that momentum going forward.

Speaking after his win over Searle, he explained: “It's probably the first year I've not got one on my ranking. Whether that's Europeans or the World's or the Matchplay.

“It's weird but the rankings never looked so good either. I think I just turned into a more of a complete player. I've been getting better over two years. If we look at the last nine months, I think I'm just getting better. If that continues, hopefully, we can rule the roost."

Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen have largely dominated the world of darts this year, but Cross is keen to make his mark before 2024 draws to a close and believes that he is improving with every performance.

He continued: “I think what impressed me myself tonight, I wanted to jump out of my skin with some shots and give it the biggun but no need. I was in control and I felt instead of being explosive with the celebrations, I felt better holding it in and being in control.

"I think Ryan still played brilliant there. I'm going to go back to my first game and I should be out. I got away with it. I put a 12 in when I needed it.