How to Play Cricket Darts: Rules & Scoring | Oche

Cricket is the most popular alternative to 501 — a tactical, back-and-forth game where position matters as much as accuracy. If you’ve only ever played countdown darts, Cricket feels refreshingly different. Here’s how it works.

The objective

The goal is to close all seven targets — the numbers 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and the bullseye — and to be ahead on points (or level) when you do. No other numbers on the board score anything.

Marks: how you open and close

Each target needs three hits to close. Hits are tracked as “marks”:

• A single = 1 mark
• A double = 2 marks
• A treble = 3 marks

So a single treble 20 closes the 20 in one dart. The bullseye works the same way: the outer bull is one mark, the inner bull is two.

Scoring points

Here’s the part that makes Cricket tactical. Once you’ve closed a number (three marks), any extra hits on that number score points equal to its value — but only while your opponent hasn’t closed it yet.

For example: you close the 20, then hit another treble 20. That’s 60 points added to your score. The moment your opponent also closes the 20, it’s “dead” and neither player can score on it.

The full ruleset, including the scoring sequence and common variations, is on our Cricket rules page.

Winning the game

To win you must satisfy both conditions:

1. You’ve closed all seven targets.
2. Your points total is equal to or higher than your opponent’s.

This is the trap beginners fall into: closing everything quickly but ignoring points, then being unable to win because they’re behind. If you’re ahead on points, close out and win. If you’re behind, you must score before you close the last number.

Simple strategy

• Start at the 20. It’s the highest-scoring number, so controlling it early is powerful.
• Don’t over-close. Once a number is closed by both players, more darts there are wasted.
• Watch the gap. If you’re ahead on points, race to close. If behind, build a lead before shutting the board down.

Practise with instant scoring

Cricket’s marks-and-points bookkeeping is exactly where games stall. The Oche Cricket scorer tracks every mark, calculates points automatically, and shows both players’ open and closed numbers at a glance — so you can focus on strategy instead of arguing over the scoreboard.