Luke Littler World Cup of Darts rule change clamour slammed as 'nonsense' by James Wade

James Wade has quashed talks of altering the World Cup of Darts rules after young sensation Luke Littler was excluded from the England team.

The tournament gets up and running on Thursday, and despite Littler's surge as a top darts talent recently, he was passed over for the competition in Germany. Michael Smith and world champion Luke Humphries are England's picks, their selection being based on ranking points system. Fans' calls for an adjustment to the selection process to include teen sensation Littler have been shrugged off by Wade as 'nonsense'.

Explaining his views in to the Daily Star, he said: "There has been a clamour for Luke Littler to be included in the England squad, but the World Cup teams have always been based on rankings. It's nonsense some want to change that just to skewer their favourite players into the event. Luke Littler will be there soon enough on his own merit."

Darts icon Dennis Priestley has sounded the alarm over potential upheaval within the sport, suggesting a 'boycott' could be on the cards if the World Cup of Darts selection process is altered to include young Littler. "Sky Sports and the PDC could change the World Cup of Darts selection process to get Luke Littler in this summer and they wouldn't get much stick for it.

"It would be the union who get the blame for letting them change the rules and I think it would cause a lot of upset for the players. They could even boycott if there is a late change of the regulations. It reminds me of them trying to fast-track Raymond van Barneveld into the Premier League when he moved over [from the BDO].", reports the Express.

Since his stunning debut at the World Darts Championship last year, Littler's career has skyrocketed. He's set to enjoy a