BIG BANG AT PURFLEET

Some new young players and some new stars from overseas have so far shot through my telescope at Purfleet.

Carpet fitter Adrian Gray beat Ronnie Baxter and then suggested that the Circus Tavern employ him to put in new carpets! Cheeky lad!

Next surprise was when ‘the real’ Chris Mason showed up with eight 180s against Wayne Atwood and the temperament of Dan Dare, intergalactic astronaut – but the question is - can Mace the Ace keep cool when the pace gets really hot.

Talking about hot…..Phil Taylor’s new wheels look pretty flashy. His new Bentley Continental has been parked outside the press caravan here at The Circus. He said that he wanted a fast car to get back to home comforts in Stoke!

The first star of day two was 19-year-old Rico Vonck from Holland, who clattered three ton-plus finishes against a suffering Mark Walsh. With Lewis aged 21 and Wade aged 23 and a 16-year-old from Australia in the field, I am going to start looking round kindergarten’s for new darting talent……next thing you know, we’ll have a kid on the stage in nappies, just like Big Daddy!

THE LEGENDARY COWBOY

Sky Sports did a ‘Legends’ profile on Bob Anderson and he came over as warm and superbly articulate. Me and my old mate Pykey had a chat the night before Bob’s match against Darren Webster and recalled many humorous moments over the years.

He made us laugh at a yarn from 1995, when an old Essex racehorse called ‘Boz’ came in one end of the Circus Tavern – for Bob to lead on – only for ‘The Cowboy’ to run out of the other end of the venue! Reason? Bob got kicked by a horse on a West Country beach years ago, when he was a kid and he is still terrified of them to this day.

Bob never hit true form against Webster due to a trapped nerve in his neck – which badly affected his right arm.

Will we see him back at the World Championship next year? Certainly….he’d crawl here on crutches to perform and entertain.

ENTERTAINER OF THE WEEK….SO FAR!

South African Wynand Havenga, what a showman - our Cliff Lazarenko lookalike – give or take!

He next plays Peter Manley in what will be dubbed the clash of the darting heavyweights!