Cross is finalist in Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts

The St Leonards-based thrower reached the final of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton before losing 16-8 to an inspired Luke Humphries on Sunday evening.

It was the furthest Cross has ever gone in the nine-day event which was televised live on Sky Sports, and he has moved up a place to eighth on the PDC Order of Merit as a result.

After the final he said: "The best man won on the night, no doubt about it - he was fantastic. I gave it my best, but I lost to the better man.

"I've had a good week and I'll come back. I'm playing great at the minute and I'm in a really good place."

Despite being comfortably beaten in the final, Cross produced a very decent performance against world number four Humphries, who also won the World Grand Prix last month.

The 2018 World Championship winner and 2019 World Matchplay champion averaged 103.61, hit four 180s and landed a magnificent 170 checkout.

But from 2-2, Humphries superbly reeled off five successive legs and three of the four after that to open up a 10-3 lead which he never looked like relinquishing.

To his credit, two-time European Championship winner Cross continued to maintain a high level in the face of his opponent's relentless heavy scoring and clinical finishing.

Helped by two 11-dart legs and a 12-darter, he did at least win five of the next 10 legs to avoid an undeserved drubbing before Humphries, who averaged 104.69, got over the line with a 91 finish.

Cross booked his place in the final with a 16-13 semi-final victory over 21st-ranked Stephen Bunting on Sunday afternoon.

After missing two darts to win 16-10, Cross lost three legs in a row before eventually pinning double three with his fourth match dart.

He averaged 95.9, hit five 180s and 42.1% of his attempts at a double, and had three 100-plus outshots, including a 127 with a bullseye finish.

The England World Cup star won the last 10 legs to see off 10th-ranked Australian player Damon Heta 16-6 in the quarter-finals on Saturday night.

Cross ended that match with a 98.18 average, four 180s, a 45.7% checkout percentage and a highest outshot of 116.

Two days earlier he produced an excellent performance to triumph 10-8 in a high-class last-16 encounter against world number six Nathan Aspinall.

Cross hit seven 180s and 50% of his attempts at a double, and landed another 116 finish during a match in which he averaged 103.97. Aspinall's average, incidentally, was 103.44.

The 2018 world champion previously qualified for the knockout stages by finishing second in group G, sealing the runner-up spot by defeating Fallon Sherrock 5-2.

Earlier in the group stage, Cross missed three match darts in a 5-4 defeat by world number three Michael van Gerwen after coming from 4-2 down to scrape past Martijn Kleermaker 5-4.

The 33-year-old will now turn his focus to this weekend's Cazoo Players Championship Finals in Minehead.

Cross will take on Cameron Menzies in round one of the 64-man event, which will be televised live on ITV4, this afternoon (Friday).

Fellow local player Ritchie Edhouse will be in action this evening against Northern Ireland's Brendan Dolan.