Peter Wright has revealed he would have rejected a call for the Premier League as he’s hit a career Cross-roads.
And the Scot believes Luke Littler needs to find more consistency to become one of the game’s greatest-ever stars. Wright returns to the big stage on Thursday night aiming to upstage the likes of Littler and Luke Humphries at the Bahrain Masters.
Snakebite ended a slump in form with a superb Worlds run which included a win over defending champ Humphries, but it was not enough to earn him a call-up from the PDC for the upcoming 17-week spectacular. However, he admits he’d have said no anyway in a bid to recapture old glories and explained: “To be honest if Matt [Porter] had given me the call for the Premier, I would have said put someone else in anyway. It’s hard being a Premier League player.
“I’m looking forward to enjoying time at home with the family and the cats. I’ll have time to rest and be fresher for the floor tournaments and Euros away from the Premier League. I will take a leaf out of the Rob Cross book. He wasn’t in the Premier League and for two years he worked hard and all the results came. That’s why he’s now No.4 in the world. I’m looking to do the same. I’ll leave the Premier League to the youngsters rather than a 55-year-old guy in it.”
Littler’s return is being relished after his Ally Pally success over Michael Van Gerwen. Wright said it was good for the game, but added: “It would have been nice for Michael to win a fourth world championship.
“But we all wanted Littler to win really to expand the game even more. The right person won. It’s great for the sport. Luke is obviously very good. But he’s got to get more consistent. He’s not one of the best yet. But he’s obviously got the potential to be.”
Wright also hit the headlines during the Worlds and said: “Maybe if I hadn’t been ill I would have started to focus on something else. I had a tough first round game against big Wesley [Plaisier]. He had won a floor tournament and beaten me on the way. Then Jermaine [Wattimena] has been playing fantastic darts. That was tough. But I said I was going to beat Luke [Humphries] anyway.
“It did cause a stir. It’s always good to be talked about. As Michael [Van Gerwen] said: I talk c**p every year! I’ve been playing rubbish for two years. It was nice to show the world I could still play darts. I believe there is plenty more to come this year. I’m looking forward to the Bahrain Masters. At least with the short format we know the two Lukes will be knocked out early because it takes time for them to warm up!”