BRENTWOOD – What began as a one-man crusade outside the PDC headquarters has quickly escalated into a full-blown player uprising. Rob Cross, the 2018 World Champion, arrived in Brentwood on Friday morning to join James Wade’s protest, swelling the ranks of demonstrators demanding a formal investigation into what they are now calling “The Littler Irregularities.”
The former World Champion, known as “Voltage,” walked straight from a taxi to the picket line, shaking hands with a visibly emotional Wade and unfurling his own handmade sign. The placard, reading “VOLTAGE DETECTS SURGES,” has electrified the protest, which has now entered its second day.
Wade, who has been camped outside the building since Thursday morning claiming he felt a mysterious “sensor” during a post-match hug with the teenage sensation, welcomed his Premier League colleague with open arms. “Rob knows,” Wade told the assembled press. “Rob has felt the static. He knows what it’s like to be unplugged by The Nuke and wonder… how?”
Cross’s grievances, however, extend far beyond a single embrace. Speaking to the media, the 34-year-old outlined a pattern of “suspicious inconsistencies” that he claims have plagued every player who has faced Luke Littler.
“I didn’t just come here because of the hug,” Cross stated firmly, adjusting his sign. “I came because when you look at the tapes, the numbers, they don’t add up. You think you’re playing a lad, but you’re playing something else. The way he switches on a double, the way the scoring bursts happen… it’s too clean. It’s too perfect.”
When pressed for specifics, Cross elaborated on what he termed “the glitches.” He cited his own heavy defeat to Littler in the 2023 World Championship semi-final, a match where Littler averaged over 100 on his way to the final.
“I went for a double sixteen, and my hand just… twitched,” Cross claimed, his eyes wide. “It was like a frequency jammer. One moment I’m on a finish, the next I’m spinning on the spot looking at the crowd. You can’t coach that. You can’t practice that. That’s interference.”
The duo’s demands have now expanded. What started as a request for an inquiry into Wade’s “sensor” claim has morphed into a demand for a full forensic audit of every match Littler has played professionally.
“We want the dart-by-dart breakdowns,” Wade demanded, pacing the pavement. “We want the PDC to release the unedited floor footage from every angle. We want to know if the treble twenty bed on board three has been magnetically enhanced. We want to know if his darts are really his darts, or if they’re prototype homing devices.”
The gathering has drawn a curious crowd, with locals stopping to take photos and a few traveling fans chanting “Ma-chine! Vol-tage!” between sips of coffee. The atmosphere, however, remains tense. PDC security guards have been posted at the entrance, watching the scene with bemused resignation.
The PDC released a second, slightly more exasperated statement in response to the new developments. “The Professional Darts Corporation acknowledges the arrival of Mr. Cross. We reiterate that there is no evidence of any irregularities, magnetic fields, or ‘frequency jammers’ in any darts matches. Luke Littler is a phenomenally talented young man who throws darts at a board. We suggest Messrs. Wade and Cross focus their energy on the practice board ahead of next week’s European Tour event.”
Littler, when shown footage of the two veterans protesting, simply laughed while practicing in Warrington. “Rob as well? Honestly, it’s mad. If I had a ‘frequency jammer,’ I’d use it to make sure my dinner order arrives quicker. Tell them to save me a spot, I’ll bring the doughnuts next time I’m in Brentwood.”
With two major names now on the picket line, the question remains: will this spark a wider movement? As the sun sets over Brentwood, “The Machine” and “Voltage” stand united, a duo determined to expose what they believe is the biggest scandal to hit the oche since the split from the BDO.