Premier League woe for Cross

The world number five from St Leonards dropped out of the elite televised competition as a result of sitting bottom of the nine-man table after night nine.

Cross' fate was sealed by a 7-4 loss against three-time BDO world champion Glen Durrant in a match he had to win to continue his involvement on to nights 10-16.

He wrote on Twitter afterwards: "Obviously I'm extremely disappointed, to say the least. It just wasn't my week. Fair play to Daryl (Gurney) for the way he played, he deserved to stay in the league. Back home to the family for me, regroup and I'll be back. Thanks for all the messages."

The 29-year-old was second-bottom of the standings when the Premier League was halted due to the coronavirus outbreak after night six back in March - three points clear of Northern Irish thrower Gurney.

But that cushion was swiftly eroded to one point after the action resumed behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes on Tuesday.

Cross lost 7-2 to world number one Michael van Gerwen and Gurney beat "Challenger" Chris Dobey by the same score on night seven.

Cross secured an early break of throw to lead 2-1 against Van Gerwen, but the Dutchman responded with six consecutive legs, including an 87 finish on the bullseye for a 12-darter in leg six, to run out a comfortable victor.

Twenty-four hours later on night eight, Cross fell to the foot of the standings after he lost 7-3 to world number four Michael Smith and Gurney continued his upturn in fortunes with a splendid 7-5 victory over Nathan Aspinall.

Cross lost the opening three legs against former World Championship runner-up Smith and although he replied with three straight legs of his own, aided by a match-high 143 checkout, Smith then reeled off four in a row to wrap up victory.

That left 2018 world champion Cross a point adrift of Gurney - and with an inferior leg difference - heading into night nine, the so-called "Judgement Night".

Gurney lost 7-4 to reigning world champion Peter Wright, meaning Cross could stay alive with a win over the table-topping Durrant.

Durrant quickly raced into a 5-0 lead, however, with the help of a 167 outshot. But Cross refused to throw in the towel and a 124 bullseye finish kick-started a run of three consecutive legs.

An incredible turnaround proved too much to ask, though, as Durrant took two of the subsequent three legs to seal his win, despite Cross averaging over 103 in a much-improved display.

It meant Cross suffered an early exit from a competition in which he reached the final last year, as well as winning the World Matchplay and European Championship.