Rob Cross hails Scots manager with 'no bulls***' style for saving his darts career

Rob Cross says Scots manager Rab Bain saved his career. But the Leith supremo has warned showman stablemate Scott Williams to ditch his respect for the 2018 champ in tonight’s World Championship crunch.

Cross needed Bain’s guidance after the Londoner’s form dropped following being crowned King of the Palace on debut seven years ago. He admitted: “Rab’s one of the best in the game. He’s no nonsense, he tells you as it is. No b***shit. I lost my way a bit, but Rab’s a genius at working out what a player needs. He’s been around the game for years and proper saved me. Listen, I’ve had some tough times. There were moments during the pandemic and a year after where I had really lost my love for the game.

“But Rab dragged me up by the b***s. He just found a way off kicking me up the backside in a good way. He made me enjoy the game again. I’m not saying I would have ever quit, but there were times when I didn’t feel it at all. It was all about finding the right structure in my life with darts.

“I’d gone from being a normal worker nine-to-five to suddenly being away from my wife and kids, sometimes six days a week. I know that Josh [Rock] and Scott [Williams] feel the same. The only thing is that I’ve got to stop Scott this year.

“It’s the nightmare draw for all of us, to be fair. We played a couple of years ago at the Ally Pally and it was a shocker. I think both of us were a bit psyched out by playing each other.

“We definitely won’t be mates this year. It’s business. He’ll want to bash me up. This is how you’ve got to be these days, it’s dog eat dog.”

Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond.

You can