Cricket darts: marks, scoring and paper scoreboards

Cricket turns a handful of targets into a game of choices: close your numbers, build points, or stop an opponent scoring. The board above is a solo closing-targets practice game. The guide also explains traditional scored Cricket for a physical board.

The seven targets

Only 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15 and bull count. Hit each target three times to close it for yourself. A single gives one mark, a double two and a treble three. Outer bull gives one mark and inner bull two. Other numbers and misses use a dart without adding marks.

How traditional scored Cricket works

Two players or teams take turns throwing up to three darts. Targets can be closed in any order. Once you have three marks on a target, extra marks score its number while your opponent has not yet closed it. An extra bull mark scores 25. If a dart both completes your three marks and has marks left over, the spare marks score immediately.

When both sides have three marks, that target is shut to scoring. In the standard split-bull variant described here, win by closing all seven targets with a total at least equal to your opponent’s. If you have closed everything but are behind on points, keep scoring on targets the other side still has open. This is not cut-throat Cricket, where points are given to opponents.

A worked visit

Alex has two marks on 20; Sam has one. Alex hits treble 20: the first mark closes Alex’s 20, and the other two score 40. Alex then hits single 19 and double 19, closing 19 with no extra points. On Sam’s next visit, double 20 completes Sam’s three marks. Neither player can score on 20 after that dart.

Keep Cricket marks on paper

List 20 down to 15, then BULL, in a middle column. Put each player’s marks on their side of the target and a running points total outside those columns. Use one stroke, a cross, and a circled cross as your marks accumulate.

Add Sam’s two new marks on 20 after the next visit, making it closed on both sides. Agree each visit’s marks and points before taking the darts out; adding three marks does not automatically mean scoring three times the number.

What is different in this browser game?

There is no opponent and no race for a points lead. Close all seven targets in the fewest darts. The game also records bonus points for marks beyond your own three, including spare marks on the dart that closes a target. Those points are a separate practice total; they do not decide completion or your personal best. For example, three inner bulls supply six bull marks: three close bull and three add 75 bonus points.

Make practice useful

• In solo play, move to an open target once you close one. Extra points will not reduce your dart count.
• On a real competitive board, look at your opponent’s open targets before deciding whether to score or close.
• Count the marks needed before aiming at a treble: part of that dart may close and part may score.

Rules references: National Dart Association rules for the split-bull winning condition, and DARTSLIVE’s game guide for marks and scoring. League round limits and tie-breaks may differ; agree those before playing.